Devilish Magic
by DredPirateBones
Summary: Arthur's job was easy, he just had to kill demons. But when he crosses paths with the demon of seduction he may find himself over his head.
1. Chapter 1

A thick fog rolled over the still waters of the cold Arctic Ocean off the coast of Northern Russia. Small chunks of ice floated atop the waves and bumped into the hull of the ship as it skimmed through the water. A man with shaggy blonde hair shivered on the bow of the ship, he was wrapped in a black cloak with the hood up and had his hands buried under his arms for warmth. He jumped as the fog horn blared.

The horn was blown every few leagues in case there was another ship out here that they might run into but it was highly unlikely. No one in their right minds would be out here at this time of night and anyone who was had strict rules they had to follow, along with special written permission from all twelve of the delegates from the Paranormal, Superstition and Mythical branches. Meaning Arthur had a heavy piece of parchment with 36 signatures and seals on it carefully stuffed in his pocket.

Arthur had trained almost religiously in order to catch up with his childhood friends, Vladimir and Lukas. Now he was finally taking the last step to becoming a Wizard, however it was also the most dangerous. It was a well-known fact that the women he was about to meet was a Monster of the First Degree, she could kill someone with the smallest of touches, and just last month a ship carrying Fledgers, students like Arthur, had come to meet her but only a few of the body guards, the captain and first mate managed to survive.

The worst part of it was that no one knew what had set her off in the first place.

Heavy footsteps thudded against the deck and echoed into the night. A man with a stern face, long blonde hair combed back with a single thin braid on each side and blue eyes, came to stand beside Arthur. His name was Gerhart or something like that but Arthur didn't really know because all the other Fledgers called him Legolas.

"Scared?"

"A bit," Arthur's voice shook, he swallowed thickly. The Fledger wasn't normally so open and willing to show fear but given the situation, he figured it was best to be as honest as possible with the man that would be protecting him. Gerhart rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was somehow unnerving that the simple gesture made it seem like Gerhart could read Arthur's mind and sort him out so easily.

However, the gesture was also reassuring because it said 'yes, I'm here and yes, I will do everything I can to protect you and no, I'm not leaving'.

In all honesty Arthur would have preferred for that hand to have been laid on his shoulder but he knew Gerhart wasn't a touchy person. Still it would have made him feel better. There was no time to dwell on the lost sentiment as a sudden powerful wind blasted Arthur's hood back off his head; his cloak whipped around his ankles, and cleared the fog to encircle them along with another ship.

The wind died just as suddenly.

"We're here," Gerhart announced unnecessarily. The other ship was made of wood and had nine giant, dark red sails; the entire ship was painted a deep inky black. Arthur guessed the captain was trying to make it as dark as Satan's soul. There was no flag flying but even so, it was obvious that this had once been an actual pirate ship but now it was a floating cage, admittedly chosen by the captive, which no longer had a purpose, but to be anchored here and used as the last pit stop for aspiring students.

As their boat came around to the starboard side of the pirate ship, Arthur saw the name of it painted on the back in blood red; Pestilence. His blood froze and something at the back of his mind tried to click together but failed. The captain of their ship came out and, with the help of some of the crew, lassoed a few ropes onto the barrels of the cannons on deck the Pestilence.

A wide board was than heaved over and set on top of the railings of both ships; creating a sort of bridge.

Arthur's legs shook and fear closed its hand around his throat. It was hard for him breathe and his chest ached with how hard his heart was beating against it and his lungs couldn't seem to take in enough oxygen. Panic was stalking him. He fought for it but Arthur drew in a steadying breath and forced himself to remember his training with elements.

Center yourself in the here and now, don't think of what could be only of what is happening now, fear is an illusion.

Death and danger are not but fear is.

Arthur's legs stopped shaking the moment he drew in a second breath, with sure footing he made his way over to the make shift bridge and onto the Pestilence. As soon as his foot met the wooden boards of the ship, the temperature dropped several degrees. On closer inspection there appeared to be a very thin layer of ice on every available surface, even on the cannons and sails. A violet shiver ran up Arthur's spine and caused his entire frame to shutter from its intensity.

People had died on this ship. The thought made Arthur freeze again, his breath coming in short pants. A large hand came down on his small shoulder roughly. The blonde visibly jumped and whipped around to come face to face with his German bodyguard. Immediately Arthur felt shame, he was going to be hunting _demons_ for the rest of his life and he was afraid of a relatively mellow monster?

Gerhart didn't look at all fazed by any of it; he nodded down at Arthur and gently pushed him toward a square opening by the main mast that led down below. The Fledger jumped down the steep stairs that might as well have been a ladder.

Below deck was warmer but not by much.

Gerhart steered Arthur along the small corridor until they came to a door. He thought Gerhart was going to make him walk face first into the old wood but it opened on its own when he got within a foot of it.

They stepped into the room, the door slammed shut behind them, and Arthur had to make a conscious effort not to jump. The room was lit by hundreds of candles, the corners of the room was cast in deep shadows; Arthur could have sworn he saw one move, up by the wall was a large table, on the table sat a Bleeding Heart flower in a simple pot.

Leaning up against the wall was a black coffin with the inscription _'_ _Everything's dried up, the sky, the ground, even the sounds. A world which is entirely devoid of life, it's like I've fallen into an illusion where there's nothing but the open sky. It feels like my body itself is drying up along with it'_ carved into the lid and painted blood red.

"You're off the edge of the map, mate," A cold voice intoned. Arthur turned his head to the left and came face to face with big bronze eyes framed by a veil of curly hair as red as a roaring fire.

That's when it all clicked.

Why the name Pestilence sounded so familiar, why the ship was still in working condition. This was the Ghost Ship Pestilence! The ghost ship that is said to be captained by a man so evil that even Death won't come for him, only this 'he' is actually a 'she' and the crew consists of the ghosts of the men she murdered. No one knows her name, in fact she can't remember it herself, that's how long she's lived, so now she goes simply by the name 'Pirate'.

She's not the only one either, now that Arthur thinks about it. There is also rumored to be 'Ninja', 'Assassin', and 'Bandit', together they are known as the Four Immortals.

Pirate leaned back on her heels and inspected Arthur. The Fledger returned the favor. She was dressed in loose fitting dark tan pants that were tucked into knee high leather boots, her shirt was a plain off white, decorating her neck was a fluffy tie of the same color as the shirt, her calf long coat was a simple turquoise with golden trimming. Finally, atop her head was a brown hat with brilliant plumage, under which she wore a brown bandanna.

"Well since we can't break the ice…" She turned around and walked to the table, taking out a bottle of rum from the confines of her coat as she went; the fabric swung out with the motion of her arm. "How about we drown it?" Pirate looked over her shoulder at Arthur.

"Sorry but I don't drink," Arthur declined politely. Pirate laughed, it was humorless and razor sharp.

"How long will you keep to that, I wonder," The redhead kicked the chair out and plopped down in it sideways, her legs dangled over one arm of the chair while she leaned her elbow on the other arm. She rested her cheek on her fist before taking a long pull of rum straight from the bottle.

"...E-excuse me?" Arthur was almost afraid to question her but so far she seemed like she had no plans of killing him and he would rather get this over with quickly. Those cold bronze eyes turned to him lightning fast and in the next instant Pirate had catapulted herself from the chair, jumped onto the table and sat down on the edge of it in front of Arthur. He took a quick step back in surprise. Pirate leaned forward until Arthur could feel the cold radiating from her.

Bottle green eyes stared into bronze.

Arthur gasped as Pirate suddenly grabbed his hand, it was as cold as ice and he could feel it sink into his skin, down to his bones, where it stayed. Oh God she was touching him! Arthur's mind scrambled for a spell that would save him but he couldn't think of one.

Behind him, Gerhart stiffened.

The freezing cold slowly crawled up his forearm but stopped at his elbow, "I fear you're marked for a grim encounter. More legends and lore, it's too late to turn back now," A shadow behind her shifted almost impatiently. Pirate abruptly let go of his hand and slid off the table, making him take a few quick back steps.

"I would thoroughly enjoy more of your company but alas, the tide comes in and dark waters await." She announced, the door swung open and she pushed both blondes out, "Welcome to the crew, Master Kirkland!" she cackled before slamming the door shut.

Arthur's breath caught in his throat as relief rushed into his suddenly exhausted body but then he stiffened again and his eyes widened.

He hadn't introduced himself, had he?

He couldn't remember.

That was three years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Three demons sat on a fifteen foot high boulder of granite, the boulder had been dropped there millions of years ago by a receding glacier. Simply put, they were sitting on a glacier erratic.

The first demon was French. He had a deep blue long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a black wrist band on each wrist, dark jeans and black dress shoes. His blonde hair brushed his shoulders and had a slight curl to it, his eyes where blue and his horns where the longest of the trio. They grew away from his head about an inch before curling back to frame his skull.

His name was Francis Bonnefoy.

The second demon was Prussian. He had a black hoodie with a crowned skull on one side and a stich design wrapped around it and a small section of the same stich design on the other side, hidden beneath the hoodie was an Iron cross hanging from a simple chain. He had a black and white 'jail-bird' shirt, jeans and red high tops. His hair was a silvery white that glowed in the moon light, eyes the color of blood and his horns grew at an out and down angle. He looked like a cat with its ears pinned.

His name was Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The third had a white t-shirt, a tan coat, jeans and boots. A cross swung around his neck and rested on his chest. His hair was deep brown and curly, his eyes were green and his horns where the shortest of the trio. They blended in with his curls so well it was nearly impossible to see them.

His name was Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

They called themselves the Bad Touch Trio, the name started in high school and never left, they stayed together no matter what. It could be traced back to Francis, if someone really wanted to point fingers, the blonde Frenchmen had overdosed on a mixture of heroin and cocaine. They had all done drugs, Gilbert smoked, Antonio drank but Francis did the heavy stuff.

Gilbert and Antonio had found him convulsing on the floor of his living room. The albino had rolled him onto his side and had held his mouth open to prevent him from drowning in his own spit or biting his tongue while Antonio had called 9-1-1.

At the hospital, Francis had slipped into a coma, Antonio had held his cross necklace and prayed to God to save him but nothing happened. Three weeks later the Spaniard couldn't take it anymore and had said 'If I could, I'd sell my soul to the Devil for Francis to wake up and be healthy again'.

The next day he woke up.

Years later, Gilbert had gone to serve in World War Two and had died for his efforts. He had been an angel but he turned his back on Heaven in order to protect his younger brother, Ludwig, throughout the war. If nothing else, he was hell bent on making sure Ludwig returned home. Antonio died next, the Devil had sent a demon for him, the police found him drowned in a frozen pond. Francis couldn't handle the pain of losing his two best friends; the only family he had known, and had gone back to the drugs.

The cutting had come later.

Physical pain to bleed out the mental but one day he cut too deep and bled to death. Together they climbed the demon ranks and now had long black tails with a spade at the end and great bat-like wings to show for it. Badges of the highest rank a demon could get as far as physical appearance went.

Francis stood up and stretched then let his arms fall to his sides as he looked to Gilbert, who was staring off into space. They were going to be partners on this assignment, if one could call it that.

"Well…I should really get going," Antonio said and stood up, brushing the invisible dust from his pants.

"Oui, we should too," Francis gently nudged Gilbert with his foot. The albino's spaded tail smacked his foot away. "S'il vous plaît, Gilbert, don't be like that," Francis pleaded in a voice of mock hurt.

Antonio chuckled. "Ludwig's got you whipped, amigo,"

"Fick dich! I'm just worried." Gilbert glared, red eyes flashing.

"Come on, the sooner we get this done the sooner you can go spy on him," Francis teased.

"I'm not spying! I'm…his…guardian demon?" Gilbert didn't sound so sure of the way he worded it but slowly got to his feet all the same.

```

Arthur hated needles, not because he had a phobia of them, he just didn't enjoy having one touching his skin. They were sharp and cold, very much akin to the feeling of having a knife at your throat. The blonde was dressed in a white coat which was left open; it had gold accents on the cuffs, and a thin line of gold running down the length of it on either side of his chest and around the back to make his shoulders look broader.

The inside of it had the same golden material and on the upper right arm was the Union Jack.

The small flag wasn't there because Britain was where he hailed from; it was there to indicate where he would be working. Along with the coat, he wore a white shirt under it and white pants with golden accents along the hem and one thin golden band on each thigh.

Arthur was bent over with his coat falling off his shoulders as he stood before the tattoo artist who worked for the Order. Having a tattoo put on the back of your neck was a badge that marked a Wizard. Since Arthur was going into the Demonic Branch, he was receiving an Agility, Stamina and Courage in Combat runes down along his vertebrae, in that order. The longer the ink stayed in your flesh the more powerful the rune became.

He hated needles.

The buzzing of the machine filled the silence, it was just him and tattoo artist. Back in the day the entire branch would stand by the walls and watch but then again the branches used to be only thirty people at max, now there were hundreds. When all of the runes where finished, an exhausting three hours later; one for each rune, Arthur was given strict instructions not to touch them. The magic was fragile for the first few hours before it sunk into his skin and took root. As such it could easily be smeared.

Arthur slowly made his way down the empty corridor that led to two giant doors. Behind the doors was his 'induction party', the one Vladimir and Lukas had promised to attend. It had been awhile since the three friends had last seen each other. Their separation started almost as soon as they became Fledgers, Vladimir started training to be a member of the Nocturnal Beasts Department, for personal reasons, Lukas had gone into two different branches, the Ancients and the Troll branches.

The Ancients dealt with the darkest of black magic.

Arthur would have lost sleep worrying about his friend if he didn't have a Green Troll spirit as his familiar. That was rare in itself, Green Trolls where one of the strongest and would only pick someone who was as strong or stronger then themselves. They were protective and built sturdy. Lukas didn't need a bodyguard but the Order gave him one anyway and, if Arthur remembered correctly, his name was Mathias.

Arthur walked faster and ignored the burning in his neck. The giant doors swung open with a gentle creek of old wood and rusty hinges. The room was filled with people from every branch, section and department, however there were far more Wizards than anyone else. As quickly as he was able, which wasn't very fast with all the congratulations thrown at him by people he didn't really know, Arthur smiled and thanked them while slowly moving around the room in search of his friends.

They were easy to find. Lukas, dressed primarily in blue, was doing his best to look interested and not lean against the wall but his arms remained in their usual crossed position. His Green Troll spirit was standing behind him, putting itself in the background. Vladimir, dressed in a red suite, was happily chatting away with Mathias, red drink in hand and miniature red top hat pined to the side of his blonde head.

They hadn't changed.

Arthur couldn't keep the smile off his face as he walked over, Lukas noticed him and he brought a finger to his lips to keep his friend from saying something. An amused flicker gleamed in Lukas's dull blue eyes and a near invisible smile tugged at his lips. Arthur knocked his knee into the back of Vladimir's own. The blonde was forced to kneel with a startled yelp; Arthur quickly snatched the drink from his hand as he went down so it wouldn't spill.

"Drunk already, Vlad?" Arthur asked with a grin. Vladimir whipped around, he smiled up at him as he realized who it was and then shot to his feet.

"Hey, look who it is!" Vladimir snatched his drink back and gave Arthur a one armed hug. "So how many did you get?" he asked as he pulled back. Without asking, Arthur knew he was talking about the tattoos. Vladimir had only one, a Strength rune, where Lukas had eighteen, starting at his neck and trailing down his spine.

"Three," Arthur nodded at Mathias after noticing that he hadn't greeted him yet. Mathias returned the gesture.

"Have a familiar in mind?" Lukas asked almost in a monotone voice.

"I was actually hoping for-" Arthur was interrupted by a loud excited squeak with a purring undertone to it. He looked over his shoulder to find a green ball flying straight at him, squeaking all the while. "Flying Mint Bunny!" Arthur exclaimed and opened his arms. The magical creature flew into his outstretched arms and nuzzled into his neck. Arthur cradled Flying Mint Bunny in his arms and stroked her back.

When Arthur had become a Fledger, one of the classes covered familiars; the teacher had Flying Mint Bunny and a few others that hadn't decided on someone to call 'master' floating around the room and no sooner had Arthur sat down that the green bunny had landed on his desk. They had been friends ever since.

Flying Mint Bunny was the length of Arthur's torso with feathered wings on her back and was a bright mint green, hence the name. Mint crawled up Arthur's shoulder and whispered in his ear, even though her voice was in Arthur's head.

 _I, Flying Mint Bunny, deem you, Arthur Kirkland, worthy to call me your familiar._

A strong taste of fresh air, mint and saturated magic flooded Arthur's mouth, it took him by surprise, and everything in sight got a green tint to it as their bond was created and solidified; wrapping them both in a cloud of green mist. When the magic dispersed, everyone who had seen it started clapping and those who didn't joined in because they knew something wonderful had happened.

Arthur felt like he was on top of the world.


	3. Chapter 3

The room was simple, as all of them where, nothing decorated the white walls. Not even a window. Flying Mint Bunny was doing what she did best, flying around the room and squeaking happily, that fine purring undertone served as quiet music. It was nice, kind of peaceful even, as Arthur packed what little belongings he had, mostly tomes and books, into a large duffle bag. Sighing, the blonde gently rubbed the back of his neck; the pain had subsided to a dull ache that was easily ignored.

Arthur had changed out of his ceremonial white and gold clothes, which he had stuffed at the bottom of his bag, and now, wore a white button up shirt under a dark green sweater vest and dark jeans. On his 'ring finger' on his right hand sat a simple ring that was sterling silver and had a small green stone embedded into the band. It was the summoning ring that Flying Mint Bunny had given him.

Familiars could only stay in the physical world on their own for so long but if their master summoned them then they could stay until dismissed. Arthur was just zipping up his duffle bag when Flying Mint Bunny landed on his shoulder, her back legs dangling off his shoulder as the rest of her was draped over it.

 _Someone's at the door._ Her voice flitted through his head, her soft nose and whiskers tickling his ear. Then, just as she had said, someone knocked on his door.

"Coming," Arthur said loudly and turned on his heel, Flying Mint Bunny slipped off his shoulder and landed on his bed with a quiet 'thump', "Mint, you alright?" Arthur asked over his shoulder. On his bed, Flying Mint Bunny was on her back with her small paws sticking in the air.

 _I felled over._

"Yes, indeed you did," Arthur chuckled and then opened the door. What greeted him made him take a step back. Gerhart was standing there with a duffle bag of his own hanging off his shoulder. Arthur blinked in confusion.

"I requested to be assigned as your body guard," Gerhart explained. Arthur's mind raced, why had he done that? Gerhart was the best of the best, damn near, that's why he stayed at the school. The Order hadn't found someone 'worthy' of his talents.

"They let you do that?" Arthur asked in astonishment. Gerhart raised a blonde eyebrow, Arthur coughed into his fist and stepped aside, "Well anyway I'm just about finished packing, if you want to come in," With that, Arthur quickly retreated back to his bed and continued stuffing his clothes into his bag, a little rougher this time. Flying Mint Bunny rolled over and sat watching him.

Gerhart stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself, the rusty hinges squeaked.

Arthur carefully placed another book inside his bag before zipping it closed and throwing it over his shoulder. He took another look around the small room, making sure he didn't forget anything he couldn't live without and, in his own way, saying good-bye to the place he had come to call 'home'. With everything packed it looked like a shell of its former self only he knew it would not stay that way for long. It was simply a blank canvas once again; ready to be painted by the next Fledger that was assigned this room.

"Shall we, then?" Arthur asked.

"If you're ready." Gerhart opened the door for him, Flying Mint Bunny scrambled to place herself back atop Arthur's shoulder. With a soft click from the lock and squeak of rusty hinges, Gerhart closed the door with an air of finality. Somehow it seemed like the sound echoed along the long and empty hallway.

 **~~~I am but a poor time skip named Larry~~~**

The house that had once belonged to the Kirkland family had been burnt to the ground in a freak fire and no one knew how it started in the first place. No one expect Arthur, that is. The lithe blonde had not always been an only child turned orphan. It had been a day much like today, gray skies with a chilling breeze and heavy clouds pregnant with rain, Arthur's father had been insane.

His father was a Wizard that refused to go to the Order for proper training and, instead, he stayed home, in the basement, developing new spells.

The day the house burned was the day he had been experimenting with a new fire spell that had gotten out of hand. Peter, Arthur's little brother, had been too afraid to run despite Arthur's frantic searching around the blazing house and hoarse screaming for him to get out. As far as Arthur knew, his father had died in the basement, his mother in the garden, and Peter under his bed.

Arthur was the only one that had gotten out and it was that very same house that he found himself standing on the front porch of. The Order had apparently bought it out from under him, rebuilt it, and then had given it back as a gift. Arthur's bottle green eyes dulled over with sadness and guilt as he took in the great house.

The doorway, which had once been framed with his mother's vine plants, was now plain except for the door's trim. The wooden door had been replaced with a replica of durable plastic.

It was the same house yet it was not the same at all.

It was nothing more but a ghost, a shell, just like his white room back at the Order.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur unlocked the door and stepped inside. It looked exactly the same, only it was colder, spookier. This new canvas had stains on it. The entrance hall had a stair case off to the left, which led upstairs to the bedrooms, the rest of it was just like any other house. Black and white tiled kitchen that looked like it belonged in a high end restaurant.

The living room, which was devoid of any furniture, had a small window that overlooked the dead garden. Flying Mint Bunny flew over and sat on the window sill and put her small paws on the window pane to get a better look outside. Arthur turned away and led the way up the stairs to the long hall way of private rooms. They stopped in front of his parent's room.

"You can have this room," Arthur said and toed the door open to reveal the large bedroom that had a floor to ceiling window. This room was the only one in the house that wasn't bare; it had a bed, dresser, closet and bedside table. The Order probably thought he'd sleep here himself. Gerhart made a noise that sounded like an affirmative, so Arthur left him to his own unpacking and made his way down the hallway to his old bedroom.

He came to a stop beside a door that had once been painted blue with a ship on it but now it was as plain and emotionless as the rest of the house. Arthur rested his hand on the doorknob, preparing himself, before opening the door. It use to creak on uneven hinges but it seemed the Order had even fixed that small detail, the absences of the noise bothered Arthur more then he thought it should have.

Carefully, almost as if he was afraid, he tiptoed into the room and came to stand before the exact spot where Peter's bed had been. The hand gripping his duffle bag tightened around the strap until his knuckles turned white. His chest hurt and his eyes stung but he couldn't cry because the tears wouldn't come. He felt numb and disconnected.

 _Arthur?_ Flying Mint Bunny came flying into the room and landed on his shoulder but he didn't feel it. She pawed at his jaw and licked the corner of his eye but he still didn't respond. _Arthur!_

"…Mint…" Arthur finally whispered. Flying Mint Bunny's ears perked up as she leaned in to listen. "Sorry," Arthur shook himself and quickly left, nearly slamming the door shut behind him.

When he made it to his room, he wasn't surprised to find it as bare as the rest of the house. Arthur waved his hand, mumbled a spell, the dust in the room gathered together in a heap. The dust solidified and rose up to form the legs of a bed and then the headboard, the frame, the supports. In a matter of seconds, Arthur had a bed again.

Sometimes magic was so covenant that it almost took the fun out of life and turned it a dull grey. Arthur shrugged the thought away and started unpacking. He had to use another spell to create hangers for the closet, a dresser, a bedside table; where he placed a picture of Peter and himself atop of, and a book shelf.

When he was done unpacking, with the help of one flying green bunny, Arthur stashed his duffle bag under his bed but then thought better of it and put it in the back of his closet.

Sighing heavily to himself, the blonde made his way down the stairs, past the kitchen; where Gerhart was searching for something, and out the back door that led to the garden.

It was a very depressing sight.

His mother's garden had been beautiful and filled with so many different plants that Arthur had once thought that every flower in the world had taken up its own share of soil. Now it was a wasteland, the ground wad dry and hard, the grass was brown and dying.

Arthur frowned, a determined look on his face as he silently vowed to do his best to start his own Eden for flowers. Yes, his garden would be so grand that Green Man would flock to it and help it grow. He'd get irritated but forgive them easily, after all it was in their nature, and then he'd trim the bushes and other plants back to a more manageable size.

First he needed to go buy the supplies to actually start on his grand garden.

Only, he never got the chance, because the next day, Gerhart and Arthur went out and bought everything they needed for the house; pots, pans, silverware, couches, a table, chairs, and smaller tables to put by the windows and other such necessities.

Moments after they had just finished putting the last piece of furniture in its place that the phone, the only thing that the Order had installed themselves, had rung and Arthur received his first assignment.

He could tell that this job was going to be more demanding than he had originally anticipated.


	4. Chapter 4

_'_ _Out of all the things to do for Beelzebub why, oh why, were they guarding a damn house? So what if it had once belonged to a devoted Satanist, whose soul now rotted in Hell? So what if his daughters ghosts where haunting the place, driving the humans living here to literally go insane? It was none of their concern.'_

Francis could tell that that's what was racing through Gilbert's head as he paced around the circular room of the lone tower, silently fuming. Francis himself was just slightly annoyed as he leaned against one of the walls and twirled a piece of hair around his finger.

It was obvious that the albino was only fidgety because he was anxious to get back to watching over Ludwig. Really, it got annoying sometimes but it was also kind of sweet. Francis smiled softly at him, wondering what it would be like to have a big brother complex as big as his, while Gilbert paced. Gilbert always forgot to say it just as Ludwig always forgot to tell him but, to anyone on the outside looking in, they could easily tell that the brothers meant the world to each other.

Gilbert spun on his heel to walk back across the room, muttering to himself the whole time. Francis sighed and pushed himself off the wall.

"Arrêter, arrêter, arrêter," He grabbed Gilbert's shoulders and spun him around to face the only window in the stone tower, "I can't watch this anymore. Go, shoo, fly." Francis punctuated each word with a little push toward the window, which looked more like a door. Gilbert visibly perked up, his shoulders squared and his head came up from watching the ground.

"Franny, you are a doll," Gilbert said and spun around to face the Frenchmen; he started walking backwards, "Any sexual frustrations, favors or fantasies you have, I'm your man." Gilbert joked.

"Oui, oui,the offer honors me, now get out of here. Oh, if someone asks, we simply got separated." Francis waved him off with a flick of his wrist. Gilbert smiled, not his usual cocky grin or sadistic smirk, but a genuine smile. With a two fingered salute, Gilbert let himself fall backwards out of the window.

```

The house sat on a small hill, were it stood for 80 years and might stand for 80 more. The house that they were to stay at until the job was complete. It was like any other mansion that Arthur had seen, save for the one lone tower on the right of the building. Arthur shivered, that tower was not a good sign.

Gerhart pulled the car to a stop in front of the huge iron gates blocking their path. The gates swung open with a loud grating squeak and they were allowed to pull forward. Arthur had to wonder if no one but him took care of the older things in this world.

Why must everything squeak?

The loose gravel crunched under the tires as Gerhart drove in a giant circle around a fountain and stopped in front of the stairs leading to the front door.

He put the car in park and took the keys out of the ignition, pocketing them; Gerhart moved to get out but noticed that Arthur wasn't moving. He turned to him and raised an eyebrow. The smaller blonde sat fiddling with Flying Mint Bunny's ring, twirling it around his finger exactly five times. Something was wrong with the house, something Arthur couldn't put his finger on but it made him queasy.

Swallowing thickly, Arthur got out of the car. Gerhart not far behind him. Together they walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. From inside, someone shouted that they were coming, followed by crashing, soft curses in another language and another person protesting.

Not long after, the door was flung open to reveal a brunette man with chin length hair and big innocent green eyes. Clinging to him was a smaller blonde girl with shoulder length hair and darker green eyes.

Her red plaid shirt was way too short for Arthur to deem appropriate.

"Good afternoon, I'm Arthur Kirkland from the Order, Demonic branch. I understand that you called for us to come out." Arthur said with a tip of his top hat. Hoping that he sounded professional and not like the newbie he was.

"Ah, yes we did, I'm Toris Laurinaitis and this is my roomma-"

"Boyfriend." The blonde interrupted. Toris sighed as if that one word had physically hurt in some way. Arthur felt his eyes widen a fraction as he took in the blonde 'women' again. Now that he looked closer, he could tell that 'her' face had the sharper edges of a man's but the way his hair curved to frame his face made it hard to tell.

"My boyfriend Feliks Lukasiewicz," Toris finished.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Arthur shook hands with the pair of them and Gerhart introduced himself before they entered the house.

"So, like, where do you want to begin?" Feilks asked. Arthur had to make a conscious effort not to throttle Feliks for butchering the English language. As it was, his eyebrow twitched.

"I think a tour would be a good place," Arthur suggested. As Toris led them around, Feliks interrupting every now and then to add something, Arthur noticed that Toris was hunched over slightly as if his back was in pain and Feliks took great care in not touching him.

"-Kitchen is in here," Toris said as he pushed open a door. The kitchen had tiled flooring and a sink, oven, marble counter, the works. However, what had Arthur's attention was the number of doors in the kitchen. The kitchen was built in a circular room and had four other doors besides the one they just entered from.

A violent shiver wracked Arthur's frame. Something was wrong, completely off, something small but what? He walked over to the counter, crouched down and ran his finger along the ground where the counter ended. The angle of it felt wrong. It was off by a few degrees. Arthur stood and examined the angle of the other walls and doorways, all of them were off. His blood ran cold as his suspicions from seeing the single tower were confirmed.

The house was unbalanced.

"Have…either of you been attacked recently?" Arthur asked from his spot beside the door on the far end of the room. Feliks and Toris shared a look and then Toris nodded. The brunette slipped his shirt off and laid it on the table, his back facing Arthur, "Bloody Hell." He mumbled. Crisscrossing his back were long red scratches that looked like they were made by finger nails and some of them looked ready to bleed.

"After that happened we, like, totally stopped sleeping here. Now we bunk with some of Tor's old high school broskies," Feliks helped Toris put his shirt back on, "Sometimes you can hear a little girl scream,"

"I see. So when dose the activity usually start?"

"In the night. In the dark." Feliks mumbled and clutched onto Toris's arm, suddenly turning shy. Or was it frightful? Gerhart checked his watch.

"It'll be dark in three hours," he commented. The closest town was two hours away. The blonde and brunette stiffened.

"W-well let us show you to your rooms and then w-we'll just be going," Toris stuttered. They quickly finished the tour, got Arthur and Gerhart settled in and then as they were leaving, Feliks turned around and said, "I hope we find you totally alive in the morning."

The door was slammed shut, a car started and drove off and then there was silence. Arthur and Gerhart stood in silence for a few moments before Arthur called Flying Mint Bunny.

She appeared in a small cloud of green mist and yellow sparkles.

"You look pale." Gerhart suddenly said. Arthur jumped; he tried to cover it up by plucking Flying Mint Bunny from the air and cradling her to his chest. He realized belatedly that it probably made him seem more like a child.

"I had a little brother once but he died in a house fire," Arthur swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, "Since then he's taken to haunting me for fun and I expect to see him around soon because this house is unbalanced… An unbalanced house is easy for ghosts to find interest in because they have been set apart from the other houses in the world. They're unnatural, new," Flying Mint Bunny purred and rubbed her face against his jaw.

"A haunted house will stay as it is until it is destroyed."

```

 _When the house has you, it will not let go._

```

Francis hovered outside the mansion; the beating of his wings filled the silence. Ever since those two blondes had come he'd been drawn to the one with indescribable beautiful forest green eyes. He wanted him, badly. A soft white light caught his eye, dragging him from his fantasies. To his left was the ghost of a twelve year old, he was dressed as a sailor and clutching a white dog to his chest.

"Hello, little ghost, who might you be?" Francis asked and smiled sweetly, gently, as to not scare him away. This ghost looked something like the object of his lusting.

"Hi…Who are you?" The ghost asked with a tilt of his head, which the dog mimicked.

"My name is Francis, douce enfant,"

"Oh. I'm Peter!"

"I see and do you know that man down there?" Francis gestured to the small bedroom window, through which he could make out the outline of the blonde British gentlemen under the covers of the bed. Francis was a little irked when the other blonde he had arrived with had insisted that they share a room.

"Yup! That's my jerk of a big brother," Francis's grin was slowly turning mischievous but he quickly smothered it and frowned sadly.

"Aww, do you not like him?"

"Well, no, I mean that is, I don't _not_ like him. He's a nice person…Are you a nice person, Mr. Demon?" Francis had to stop the squeal that threatened to escape. God, this ghost was adorable!

"Y'know I have a friend who has a little brother, I've always wanted one myself, and he said I was nice," Francis lied, Ludwig had never said that, never even hinted at it, "Would you be kind enough to tell me his name?" Francis once again gestured to the window.

"His name is Arthur."

Peter may have been adorable but he was stupid.

Francis grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

Mercifully, Arthur and Gerhart weren't distributed by anything, not the demonic creature lurking in the house, not by a little girl screaming. Nothing. Arthur figured it meant one of two things. One, whatever was sharing the house with them thought they were too much of a threat to do anything, or, two, it was watching and waiting to see what they'd do.

What they _could_ do.

Arthur wasn't too fond of either scenario. If it was the first option then this job was too easy but if it was the second then he may have stepped into something that was over his head. The small blonde was new to the field, he was still 'green' and inexperienced, something he was acutely aware of.

Down stairs in the dining room, Arthur sat at the table pouring over a book; Flying Mint Bunny on his shoulder, when Feliks walked in and sat down across from him. Today, Arthur couldn't help but note, he was wearing a pink skirt, a white button up shirt with a frilly collar and a red headband with a bejeweled cherry hanging from it near his ear.  
"Good morning," Arthur said and flipped a page.

Something had been bothering him since we woke up. Toris's back had severe claw marks, something a very angry ghost or a mildly irritated demon would do. Arthur could feel a demonic presence but it was weak, the demon was certainly in the house but it wasn't any were near to being put out.

All of that had led Arthur to believe that it was a ghost that had attacked Toris and not the demon they had been called out for. Now the only question was which ghost.

"Morning," Feliks responded happily. Toris and Feliks had come back to the house a few hours ago, they still lived here after all.

"I'm, like, happy that you survived last night," Arthur glanced up from his book but Feliks was examining his nails in an attempt to prevent eye contact but after a few awkward moments of silence, the Polish blonde spoke again. "Hey, thanks for, like, totally not freaking out when we told you we were gay. Toris is still half way in the closet and is totally afraid of haters,"

Arthur smiled reassuringly, "Hard to be against them when you're one of them," Feliks smirked at him and stopped examining his nails. Arthur felt his ankle being nudged under the table.

"That so?" Feliks asked, Arthur could tell he was just mock flirting with him to help ease the dismal atmosphere but it was still kind of weird. Feliks's foot traveled higher to the inside of his thigh but then suddenly Flying Mint Bunny screamed and bared her sharp teeth at something behind Arthur and a small shift in the air had the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

Arthur's book slammed closed and was sent sailing through the air and into Feliks's chest. The force of the book hitting him knocked the air out of his lungs and caused him to wince. Arthur whipped around to look over his shoulder; a pair of bright, glowing, blue eyes looked back at him before they disappeared.

The demonic presence that Arthur had sensed grew harsher; the demon was pissed off now, however the demon itself had retreated. For now. Arthur turned to Feliks, who was lightly pressing down on his chest, testing it for bruising and soreness.

"Are you alright, lad?" Arthur asked as he stood, picked up his book and tested Feliks's chest himself.

"Totes fine." The blonde lied with a wince and a giggle, trying to play it off like he didn't just get hit with a book. Arthur went back to his seat after he was satisfied that Feliks wasn't hurt. With a sigh, Arthur flipped back to his page and scowled at the text.  
He felt helpless, just a little bit, he had hoped that the demon wasn't already in the house but it was, so at this point it was wasted effort to lay down protection wards. Flying Mint Bunny nuzzled into his jaw.

 _It'll be okay._ She said. Arthur smiled and reached up to stroke one of her ears. Feliks sat fidgeting in his chair. After debating with himself, Arthur got up, leaving the book on the table.

"Toris, you're needed in the dining room!" Arthur shouted. Loud footsteps came from the stairs and then Toris came into the room. "Stay with Feliks. The demon in this house just threw my book at him." With that, Arthur left, it was time to go hunting. He was confident that nothing would happen to Feliks now that Toris was there.

 _Gerhart?_ Flying Mint Bunny asked with a tilt of her head.

"I think I'll be fine with just you for company." Arthur said and made his way outside. It was cold and wet but he was used to the weather in London, so it was nothing. The garden seemed a good as place as any to start.

Flying Mint Bunny perked up at the sight of it and Arthur's eyes widened a fraction. The garden wasn't big by any means; however, it was filled with daisies, orange trumpet flowers, white snowball flowers, purple lilacs. Behind all of this was a giant maze created out of tall hedges.

He reached down, picked a daisy and watched it die in his fingertips within seconds. He frowned, looking up into its dead face.

```

 _Murder stains these walls._

```

Francis sat, invisible, at the foot of Arthur's bed. He sat cross legged with his elbow resting on his knee and his head resting in his hand, his tail curled around his feet. The Frenchmen was still slightly pissed off that Arthur had let that Polish brat flirt with him. It had been such a bad attempt! If it had been Francis flirting he would probably be sharing Arthur's bed with him.

Not like he was now but actually holding him.

Francis tucked a lock of hair behind his slightly pointed ear and carefully crawled up the bed until he was straddling Arthur. The Brit's sleeping face was so cute, his eyelashes brushed his cheeks when his eyes fluttered, and his brow was finally relaxed and not drawn together in a small frown. His full, pink, lips where parted slightly as he breathed gently, in and out.

Francis licked his lips, tasting Arthur's soul. There was the cold heat of minty ice gum and a spicy back lash of something he couldn't name with the smooth sweetness of honey buried underneath it. The demon almost wanted to cry, almost, because Arthur's heart wasn't cold like Peter had led him on to believe.

No, it wasn't cold, it was broken.

Pulled apart eight different ways.

Francis glanced at his covered wrist and then back to Arthur's face.

The demon found himself leaning down until his lips brushed Arthur's…

…And then the goddamn bunny started screaming again.


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur and Gerhart jerked awake as Flying Mint Bunny started screaming.

Gerhart pulled out one of the biggest knives Arthur had ever seen from under his pillow, where his bed lay on the floor. Arthur jumped out of bed, his hands glowing with raw magic. Flying Mint Bunny stood in front of the door; her whole body was vibrating with the force of her screaming.

"What is it, Mint?" Arthur asked in a harsh whisper. Flying Mint Bunny stopped screaming.

 _Something's coming._ She said. The house suddenly shook and the silence was filled with an ear splitting high pitched scream. Flying Mint Bunny jumped up onto Arthur's shoulder, he could feel her trembling as the house continued to shake. When the screaming stopped so did the shaking.

The lights turned on one their own accord, flickered a few times and then stayed strong and bright.

Gerhart and Arthur stood still in the following silence but then there was the sound of a little girl weeping. The voice of another girl, sounding almost the exact same, joined the first, only this one was laughing.

"Go walking through the valley, go walking through the valley, as we have done before," She sang, the tune was the same as 'Ring around the Rosie'.

The girl continued to laugh as the weeping and wailing of the first got louder. Both bone chilling sounds grew in volume as they searched for the room with someone inside it.  
When the voices drew closer to the door, Gerhart tightened his hold on his knife and pushes Arthur behind him, "Stay behind me." He whispered.

The girls suddenly stopped crying and laughing. Arthur's heart beat violently against his chest, cold sweat slowly ran down the back of his neck and his breathing was labored. They had found it, the room with someone inside it…

…That's when the walls started leaking blood.

The thick dark liquid seeped down the walls and collected on the floor. The pools grew until they spilled over themselves and started expanding across the floor. The second girl giggled as the two blondes froze and could do nothing but watch the blood creep up on them as if it was alive.

The giggling took on a playful tone but quickly evolved into cruel hysterical laughter.

The first girl joined soon after.

"You should get out." A voice whispered urgently in Arthur's ear. The terrified blonde whipped around and found the same pair of glowing blue eyes as earlier in the day from the incident in the dining room. But before he could question it the door suddenly burst open and in came two very angry ghosts.

The light started flickering again and the blood started to coagulate.

The first one had orange hair pulled into a high side pony tail and red eyes. She wore a pink shirt with brown sleeves with the words 'I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person' written on the front, and skinny jeans.

The second looked like she could have been the twin of the first. Her hair was green and her eyes where blue, she had snake bites and wore a white beanie with a checkered pattern on the bottom of it. A long sleeved green shirt and baggy cream colored pants.

Both of them looked like they had starved to death yet they were still laughing.

The girl with green hair lunged for Arthur.

The wizard raised his hands into a shield, the spectral literally bounced off of it and into the wall. The girl with orange hair went for Gerhart. He couldn't do anything except dodge and play Keep Away.

Arthur moved to help when a bright glow caught his eye. Peter stood in the door way holding a white dog to his chest as the animal's back legs dangled in the air. His expression was unreadable.

"Go in and out the window, go in and out the window, as they have done before," he sang. Then he turned and started running away.

"Peter!" Arthur shouted and ran after him. Behind the wizard, the green haired ghost had jumped for him again with a feral growl, somehow still laughing, but Francis grabbed her by the hair and flung her into her twin before going invisible again.

A grin on his face.

The cruel hysterical laughter of the girls turned to sobbing, "Don't leave me, please!" they pleaded in unison.

In the hallway, Arthur ran after his brother's ghost as fast as he could. Flying Mint Bunny firmly clutching to his shoulder.

"Peter!" he shouted after the ghost. Peter didn't so much as look back as he led him through the many doors the house possessed and into the night through a back door that Arthur had never seen before. The door spat them out into a secret entrance to the maze.

Arthur skid to a halt and doubled over panting with hands braced against his knees. Peter disappeared around a corner but he peeked back around it when he realized Arthur had stopped.

"Arthur's a jerk!" He taunted with a giggle and started running again. Arthur felt his eyebrow twitch at the old jab to his behavior toward Peter. However it seemed to give him his second wind as he took off after him again. He was far enough behind that when Peter rounded a corner Arthur barely caught the glow disappearing.

"Hurry, they're going to get you!" Peter giggled.

"Peter!" Arthur yelled as he rounded another corner and had to skid to a stop as he came face to face with one of the most beautiful sights he'd seen. It was the center of the maze, with a fountain decorated with stone doves in the center of the circle. All around were night blooming flowers and broken statues.

Arthur turned to one of the stone benches sitting by the fountain. Peter sat there with his dog in his lap, smiling at Arthur. He felt warm tears sting his eyes, "Why?" he asked. "Why didn't you move on, already? Do you hate me that much?"

"I didn't want to leave," Peter said and stroked the dog's head. "…I felt it, a while ago," Peter said and looked up at the night sky. "Mum and dad are stars now."

"…Pardon?" Arthur tried to wipe the tears from his eyes but more gathered. Flying Mint Bunny rubbed against his face. Peter looked back to Arthur and smiled.

"Mr. Demon told me that when angels and demons die, they turn into stars. I felt them die," The child started swinging his feet back and forth, "But that's ok because I still have you, and Tino, Berwald and Hanatomago." Peter gestured to the dog when he listed the last name.

Arthur's legs started to shake, his parents weren't in Haven?! How was that even…He couldn't even…What?! What was Peter going on about? Who were Tino and Berwald?

He froze as a single piece of information refused to be pushed to the back of his mind.

"W-wait, you've met the demon that's in that house?" Arthur asked a little breathlessly and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. Peter smiled and nodded. Arthur's blood ran cold, as quickly as his agility rune would allow, he strode over to Peter and grabbed his shoulders.

It somehow didn't surprise him that he could actually touch him.

"Peter, you need…I need you to move on…so you'll be safe." Arthur said looking into Peter's bright blue eyes.

"Arthur," Peter's voice suddenly got very serious, "We can talk about this all night long but I. Am. Not. Leaving." Arthur's shoulders slumped in defeat, his hands slid off of Peter's shoulders and he cast his eyes down at his feet. If the ghost of his brother didn't want to move on, then there was nothing that Arthur could do about it.

He felt helpless.

"Why can't you just listen to me this one time?" Arthur whispered.

"I'm not leaving…because you didn't leave me." Peter said. Arthur's head snapped up but Peter had already disappeared.

 _Arthur?_ Flying Mint Bunny asked softly.

Arthur's knees gave out.

In the cold night air the only sound was the water in the fountain but even that seemed too loudly after everything. The screaming, the blood, which seemed so far away but had only happened moments before, Arthur felt like he was going to vomit with how fast everything was moving.

How fast everything was spinning out of his control.

He felt Flying Mint Bunny shift around and then stiffen but he couldn't bring himself to care. His mind was still trying to process the fact that his parents were gone. They weren't even in Haven, they were just gone.

 _Arthur…Arthur! Arthur!_

"What?"

 _Look._ Arthur craned his neck to look up at her but she was looking over his head. He turned the other way and his eyes grew wide as they landed on a stone plaque carved into the fountain that read 'The Valley of The Red Rose'.

Looking around Arthur finally noticed the rose bushes surrounding them. "Go walking through the valley." Arthur whispered, "What was it Peter had sung?" He mumbled.

 _Go in and out the window._ Flying Mint Bunny said. She unfurled her little green wings and flew around in search for a window in the 'valley' but found none. Arthur was suddenly struck with a jolt of clarity as he looked toward the mansion.

The lone tower's single window was the only one that faced this section of the maze. The blonde stood and walked over until he stood before the window, his eyes never leaving the dark portal high above. He tilted his head in thought and took a few steps forward; he almost tripped when his foot didn't meet the ground where he had expected it to.

Quickly looking down, Arthur found himself to be standing in a large dent in the ground.

"Go in and out the window…In and out…" Arthur mused to himself out loud. He closed his eyes and pictured what it would be like to be standing on a window sill. The tower was high enough that it was easy to imagine the wind whipping his hair around his face and stinging his eyes. The height would give him a sense of vertigo as he looked down at the maze.

Without realizing it Arthur started rocking forward onto his toes and then back onto his heels.

Go in and out the window.

Bottle green eyes snapped open.

"They jumped," he whispered and looked back at the dent in the ground. "This is where they landed."

 _If they jumped, then why are they angry?_ Flying Mint Bunny lightly landed on Arthur's shoulder again.

"…Maybe they were pushed."


	7. Chapter 7

Arthur turned and ran back the way he came. Or so he thought. He ran as fast as he could, Flying Mint Bunny flying behind him, neither knew they were just going around in circles and slowly drawing closer to another of the clearings hidden deep in the maze.

Arthur ran around the next corner, expecting to see the door, but instead there was a blonde haired demon standing half way down the pathway. He dug his heels into the ground and skid to a halt, Flying Mint Bunny landed on the ground by his feet and hissed. The demon looked up from examining his nails. When he saw them his bored expression turned into a smile.

"Bonjour!" The demon's tail flicked and his great bat wings twitched as if they had been forced to stay still for far too long. Long horns the same color as his hair protruded from the sides of his head.

Arthur tensed, so this was the demon that he had been hunting? Long shoulder length blonde hair, bright dazzling blue eyes. He wore a deep blue long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a black wrist band on each wrist, dark jeans and black dress shoes.

The clothes he died in no doubt. Though Arthur had read somewhere that demons could change clothes at will, they often choose to remain in the clothes they had died in to remind themselves that they could never go back.

That they weren't human anymore.

Even though he smiled and Peter had seemed to have enjoyed his company, Arthur didn't trust him.

The blonde wizard discreetly dropped a piece of chalk onto the ground; Flying Mint Bunny picked it up. The tactic was one that they had come up with while Arthur was a Fledger, he would distract the target while she quickly drew the desired magic circle, it didn't have to be perfect, it just had to be functional.

"Good evening," Arthur said carefully, "And you are?" The demon's smile grew until it was almost leering as he walked forward and stopped before Arthur. With a flourish he bowed at the waist, wings snapped open and his tail curled around his feet.

"I am Francis Bonnefoy," Francis gently took Arthur's hand in his own and pressed a kiss to his pale knuckles before standing up. His wings loosely tucking against his back again, "Peter has told me quite a bit about you, Arthur," Francis' smile turned predatory and his grip on Arthur's hand slowly grew into an iron grip.

Arthur felt dread creep up his spine as he became painfully aware that he was not going to be getting away from this demon any time soon, but that was okay because now he could put his plan into place. Arthur gently nudged Flying Mint Bunny with his heel. The little green creature got to work.

Arthur felt the familiar warm sensation as one of his runes kicked in, no doubt the Courage in Combat, and he was certain it was the only thing that helped him hold his ground.

"Has he?" Arthur asked.

"Oui," Francis leaned in closer until his lips brushed Arthur's ear and his warm breath caressed his neck. "But what, may I ask, are you doing out here when you should be back inside?"

"…I got lost," Then, partly because Arthur wanted to test him and partly because he needed to stall, he said, "I don't suppose you know where those twins are buried?" Francis shrugged.

"Who knows?" The demon asked almost smugly.

"I see…Well if you don't, then I guess I have a search to get on with." Arthur leaned back and side stepped Francis but the demon didn't let him go far. He grabbed the

wizard's upper arm and pushed him up against the bushes and pinning him there. Arthur tensed as he felt Francis' muscular tail wrap around his thigh, higher then what he was comfortable with but he didn't protest; he couldn't because that would be like admitting defeat.

"Hold on there, lapin,"Francis leaned in close again, "…I know what you are," Arthur felt him smirk against his neck.

"Yeah, I'm human," Arthur almost snapped back.

"Non. You are a Demon Hunter and yet you have not even concerned yourself with moi,"

"Tch! Well you've been behaving," Arthur grinned wickedly, "Like a good dog," Francis' smirk grew.

Arthur suddenly regretted calling him a dog.

The demon's tail tightened.

"I think I should be rewarded for that. Don't you think?" Arthur tensed and his eyes narrowed, "After all, I could have made your stay here a lot worse, non?" Francis chuckled.

Taking a deep steadying breath Arthur closed his eyes.

"What do you want?" Arthur asked in a whisper. Francis' hand slithered down Arthur's neck, to his chest, down his stomach and came to rest on his groin. Arthur's eyes snapped open and bit his lip.

"I think you know," Francis purred and gave Arthur's ear a slow sensual lick. Immediately Arthur felt his face burn with a bright blush and his breathing quickened. He didn't know what had come over him but he did know that he wanted the demon and he wanted him _now!_

 _Take your time Mint. Please, take your time._ Arthur thought to himself.

He swallowed thickly before nodding.

Francis chuckled darkly; his free hand slipped behind the wizard in his arms and cupped his ass as he mercilessly groped his front.

Arthur moaned and ground forward into Francis' hand. He twisted his fingers into Francis' long hair and pulled him into a sloppy kiss that was full of teeth and battling tongues. Arthur moaned and fisted a hand full of Francis' blue shirt almost desperately. He felt the demon smirk and then he suddenly bit down on Arthur's tongue until it bled.

With a yelp, Arthur pulled back, panting, but he didn't release of his hold on the Frenchmen. A small dribble of blood leaked down the side of his mouth. He was met with a self-satisfied smirk before Francis suddenly delved his hand into the front of Arthur's pajama pants.

Long fingers gripped the heated flesh they found there and started pumping.

With a gasp, Arthur threw his head back and accidently offered his throat to the demon. Francis didn't waste the invitation, however accidental it may have been, as he sucked roughly on the side of Arthur's neck.

A new wave of pleasure wracked Arthur's lithe frame making him shiver from it. He lifted one leg up and hooked it around Francis' waist, grinding into his hand harder and with more urgency.

God Save the Queen, they hadn't really done anything and Arthur could already feel himself close to the edge. He wasn't a virgin by any means, he'd bedded women and men alike but he'd never been so turned on so quickly. His cock hardened even further in the demon's expert hands as he felt a thumb pressed into the slit with just enough pressure for it to almost hurt but be pleasurable at the same time.

Arthur groaned deep and low in the throat, his grip on Francis' shirt tightened further. The demon hummed as he pulled back to look at his work before diving back in to bite and lick harshly. Arthur was so lost in the pleasure that he was being given that he didn't notice Francis slip his other hand down his pants until a finger invaded him roughly and with nothing to help make it easier.

Biting his lip and refusing to scream and give the demon the satisfaction. Arthur forced himself to relax as that finger was thrust into him.

"It's okay to call out." Francis whispered teasingly into his ear when he saw the pained expression but Arthur just bit down harder and glared up at the stars. Francis' tail released its hold on Arthur's thigh in favor of slipping under the elastic waist band and pulling the Englishmen's pants down to his ankles.

Arthur gasped as the cold night air hit his exposed skin, his head falling forward and ending Francis attack on the side of his throat. With one last vicious thrust Francis slipped his forefinger of out Arthur's body and abandoned his hold on his cock in favor of crouching down slightly and hooking his arms under his knees. In a show of strength, Francis lifted him clean off the ground, his elbows locked into the back of the other's knees.

The sudden movement startled Arthur so much that he lost his hold on Francis' hair and shirt. He scrambled for another hold, finding that Francis' horns apparently made a nice second choice. Francis grunted as Arthur used his horns to help hold himself up. Without warning Francis smashed his lips against Arthur's again, quickly forcing his way inside his mouth as he worked his pants open with his dexterous tail.

No sooner had Arthur heard a zipper being opened that something hot, hard yet soft and defiantly not another invasive finger prod at his unprepared entrance.

 _Bullocks._ Arthur cursed silently, knowing that this was not going to be an easy ride but really what had he expected? Francis tried distracting him with his tongue as he slowly lowered Arthur onto his hardened member. To his credit, Arthur didn't make a sound as he was impaled but that didn't stop him from biting down on Francis' tongue until the demon yelped and he tasted copper.

An almost unbearable burning pain that reminded Arthur of fire stung his lower back. Arthur gripped the demon's horns in a white knuckled grip and then, finally, he felt his ass rest flush against Francis' hips. Thankfully the demon halted all movement.

Arthur released the bleeding muscle from its prison.

Francis pulled back, his breathing ragged, but he kept his mouth within an inch of the Englishmen's. The wizard was surprised that the older blonde was giving him time to adjust; it was the complete opposite of the rough treatment from earlier. They stared at each other, absorbing the atmosphere, while Arthur adjusted.

"…Well, are you going to move or just stare at me?" Arthur asked once the burning had died down.

"Both." Francis smirked and then lifted Arthur up before letting him fall back down.

Arthur winced.

Francis repeated the movement while keeping blue eyes glued to green. It didn't take long for the roughness from earlier to make a comeback with a vengeance as Francis bucked up and hit that bundle of nerves deep inside Arthur.

The younger blonde inhaled sharply and he saw more than the stars in the sky. Francis thrust harder and faster while he proceeded to lift his latest prize up and slam him back down. All Arthur could do was hold onto the demon's horns and concentrate on breathing as he was rutted into ruthlessly.

The bushes he was pinned against caught on his night shirt and tore it but he couldn't bring himself to care, it just felt so damn good. Arthur groaned, sighed and moaned loudly, anything but scream. Francis grunted and stayed close to Arthur's face.

 _I'm done!_ Flying Mint Bunny shouted victoriously.

Arthur grinned, even with the strong currents of pleasure threatening to drown him, his head was still above water and damn him to Hell if he wasn't going to win this. He was just that stubborn.

Francis' blue eyes widened as Arthur clamped down around his member, the demon growled and thrust harder in him, hitting his sweet spot nearly every time.

Arthur buried his face in Francis' shoulder to muffle his wordless scream as he came, painting their chests white. Francis groaned loudly as Arthur's muscles clenched down even harder, it took only a few more powerful thrusts before he pulled Arthur up and off his shaft.

Dropping him onto the ground as he turned and came onto the ground away from the Englishmen. Arthur couldn't help but be pissed off at being dropped but he was also thankful that Francis hadn't came inside him. That would have been impossible to hide but it was a simple thing to just simply burn a shirt.

Arthur didn't allow himself to fall under the spell known as afterglow as he pulled up his pants and stood on shaky legs. Watching Francis very carefully, Arthur slowly moved backward until he stepped just outside of the magic circle Flying Mint Bunny had drawn.

Francis came back down from his high.

He turned around and faced a panting and flushed Arthur. The demon just grinned at him and licked his lips seductively.

"Thanks for the treat," Francis purred. Arthur scoffed and let his legs shake. "I see that perhaps I was too tough with you, honhonhon. Let me make it up to you lapin," Francis' blue eyes twinkled with amusement.

"How do you figure you'll do that?" Arthur asked.

"Those twins that attacked you, they were not buried at all," Francis tilted his head toward the direction of the mansion.

"What?" Arthur couldn't believe his ears. Of course they had been buried, if they hadn't then where were the bodies? Where ever they were, Arthur needed to know if he wanted to let them rest in peace.

"I'm afraid it's true," Francis closed his eyes and shrugged dramatically. "Those poor lovely girls were walled up alive." Francis opened his eyes in time to see Arthur fall to his knees. A cold dread had seized Arthur as the words settled in; he slowly raised his head and looked at Francis.

"Thank you but I am afraid I'm still a Demon Hunter." Francis' expression grew confused and with that Arthur lurched forward, slammed his hands on the crudely drawn circle and used all the magic he could muster to activate it.

He watched as Francis' eyes widened in horror.

The circle glowed purple and a sudden unseen force pulled him down onto his knees. The purple changed to red, Francis' horns started to glow the same color as the magic took ahold of them and started to unravel the bone coating.

Arthur didn't care to stay for the rest. He stood up and twirled on his heel, making his way back to the mansion, turning down the path that Francis had unintentionally pointed out. Behind him, Francis' scream ripped the silence apart.

```

Using the Strength rune inked into his flesh, Arthur tore open the pad lock on the garden shed. He plunged into the darkness and raided the place until he found what he had been looking for. Something heavy that he could swing, his eyes landed on a shovel. Without a second thought, Arthur snatched it up and ran back into the haunted mansion.

Juggling the shovel from hand to hand as he slipped his shirt over his head, using the last of his magic, Arthur burned it.

"Mint, go find Gerhart!" Arthur ordered between gasps of breath. Flying Mint Bunny gave a purring squeal of affirmation and flew off down the next hallway that they passed. The ghosts continued to laugh hysterically and wail off in the distance but Arthur ignored them as he punched the walls every couple of steps.

He rounded a corner and flew up a set of stairs, hitting the walls as he went, when the hollow 'thump' changed into a solid sounding 'thump'. Arthur grabbed onto the railing, nearly yanking his shoulder out of it's socked as he literally stopped dead in his tracks.

Panting heavily and sweat dripping down the side of his face and into his eyes, Arthur didn't give himself a change to rest as he lifted the shovel and brought it down into the wall. In the back of his mind he noticed that the loud bang of the shovel meeting the wall was the only sound to be heard.

 _Arthur, Arthur!_

"Arthur!" Gerhart and Flying Mint Bunny came running down the stairs on the other side of the large room and then back up on his side. Arthur didn't show that he acknowledged them as he continued his attack on the wall.

He was just now started to curse himself that he had wasted all of his magic on that demon.

Gerhart pushed him aside, taking the shovel out of his hand as he did so, and smashed it into the wall with much more force then what the weaker wizard could hope for in his current state. Gerhart's first swing created a crater in the wall. His second made a large chunk come completely off and the outline of a decaying body came into view. Then the smell came.

Arthur gagged but Gerhart ignored it and continued to break the wall down until a body came crashing down onto the stair case. The two blondes quickly stepped back. Now that it was in full view Arthur could see that it wasn't one body but two curled up against each other. The torn and ragged clothing matched that of the twin ghosts perfectly. It was only thanks to that they the bodies could be told apart, the flesh and hair had long rotted and fallen out.

 _Arthur…Look, there._ Flying Mint Bunny landed on Arthur's shoulder, resting her front paws on his head so that she was half way leaning on his blonde strands of hair. Arthur turned to look at the top of the stair case.

The twins stood there, holding hands and smiling. Peter was standing in the front and positioned between them, grinning from ear to ear with Hanatomago in his arms.

"Peter?" Arthur asked. Gerhart looked from Arthur to Peter, the name clicked as belonging to the younger blonde's little brother, and he stepped down a step to give them more room to talk.

"Arthur you're a jerk!" Peter giggled and Arthur couldn't help but smile at the familiar taunt. Peter half turned to look over his shoulder at the twins and then back at Arthur, "I finally got them to calm down." He explained.

"Well done, lad," Arthur then turned to the twins, "I am so sorry about what happened to you and I promise that we will bury you properly...Is there a specific place you would wish to be your final resting place?" The twins looked at each other, smiled then looked back down at Arthur and Gerhart.

"In the valley!" They exclaimed together.


	8. Chapter 8

The twin's corpses were placed in their own coffin and set aside while the Order sent an Exorcist to purify the grounds. When they got to the maze all they found was the remnants of a de-horning circle and a pool of blood, yet there were no splatters or even the smallest blood trail to indicate which direction the demon fled in. Arthur insisted on staying until the twins were finally put to rest in the Valley of The Red Rose.

Arthur, Gerhart, Toris and Feliks stood before the freshly filled graves as the sun set. The rose bushes seemed to burn with an extra red hue. Flying Mint Bunny was lying across Arthur's shoulder again, her back legs kicking thin air as she thought to herself.

 _Arthur?_ She asked after a while.

"Hmm?" Arthur looked over his shoulder to her. Gerhart ignored them; he was used to hearing only one side of their conversations, but Toris and Feliks gave them their full attention.

 _I was just thinking that if they did jump…_ Flying Mint Bunny looked over to her right, where the human shaped dent still resided. _Then how where they walled up alive?_

"…I'm not sure. Maybe when they jumped, or where pushed, the fall didn't kill them. So they were then left to bleed to death inside the wall," Arthur reasoned as his mind raced back to that night in the bedroom.

The night when the walls leaked blood.

 _But their ghosts looked like they had starved to death._ Flying Mint Bunny squeaked and pawed Arthur's top hat until it sat crookedly on his head just to mess with him.

"I don't know, Mint. Maybe they had been starving to death in that tower so they jumped to try and end it and then whoever had done it to them decided they needed to be walled up alive," Arthur scratched the back of his neck in exasperation.

This really wasn't his area of expertise but no one seemed to be taking that into account.

"That's a gruesome theory." Toris said.

"And wicked scary!" Feliks exclaimed as he clung to Toris' arm.

"It's the only one I have." Arthur shrugged.

"Whatever happened, I wouldn't even wish it upon my enemies." Gerhart said with a sad shake of his head.

"Is there anything else that needs to be done or will you two be leaving today?" Toris changed the subject. Arthur reached up to stroke Flying Mint Bunny's ears.

"We'll be taking our leave now, actually," Arthur said and turned to look at his two hosts. He tipped his top hat to them, making sure to straighten it but Flying Mint Bunny pawed at it again. "It was a pleasure meeting you both."

"The pleasure was ours." Toris replied with a smile.

"For realsies. We should totally be BF's!" Feliks grinned from ear to ear. Arthur, breed to be polite, was about to open his mouth to say something when Gerhart grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and forcefully dragged him away, only releasing him when he roughly pushed him into the passenger seat of their car.

Gerhart didn't know about his charge but he, for one, had had enough of that place. The German had official decided that it was time to go home.

```

Francis felt like he was dying…again…but alas the world was either not that cruel or didn't have the time to show him such mercy. His head felt like it had been the target of nuclear testing and when he tried to sit up his vision swam. Cursing Arthur Kirkland with a long stream of furious French, the demon somehow managed to roll over onto all fours and force himself into a sitting position.

It had been a solid week since Arthur had removed his horns, somehow, Francis wasn't sure how, even now. The blonde was currently occupying a warehouse by a river, which one he wasn't sure. After he had woken up in that maze, feeling like Death and looking none the better, Francis had limped his way to this very warehouse. Stumbling and tripping all the while. He was a little pissed off that without his horns he didn't have much for balance anymore although he was slowly getting it back.

Other than his lack of balance, questionable hygiene, and sudden inability to taste souls with just a flick of his deft tongue over plush lips, Francis noticed that all the other demons didn't even notice his aura unless they were nearly on top of him. It was like he didn't have one anymore. No, that wasn't right, he still had one, it was just small like a human's. Not only that but the dear sweet lord of Hell hadn't sent anyone after him to berate him for failing in his simple 'mission' of guarding the house.

It was only then, leaning against the wall with blood in his hair and dripping down the sides of his face to be soaked up by the front of his shirt, that Francis had the realization that his horns had not only amplified his demonic powers but they had also been a sort of tracker.

Fuck, now he was indebted to that wizard…and his little bunny too.

In retrospect it wasn't all bad because now he had his life, or lack thereof, back to spend and live as he saw fit. A bakery would be a great place to be; maybe he could find the motivation to start his own.

Francis mentally smacked himself.

Priorities man, priorities!

Thanking that amazing creature and his rodent first and then he could think about his future business.

First and foremost, however, he needed to get back on his feet. Francis grit his teeth, leaning forward and getting his feet under him, he slowly rose to a crouch. His tail lashed from side to side and he had to make a conscious effort to hold it still as he continued to slowly get up. Once on his feet a small victorious smile drew his lips off his teeth.

And then he slowly started to lean to the side, his great wings snapped out to compensate and he fell back onto his side.

Maybe tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

Arthur was doing a fare imitation of his past choir teacher as he chugged water. It had always made him smile to see Mr. Peterson do it during class; he would be teaching and then suddenly walk away to started chugging water from his water bottle for a good seven seconds or more.

The students started to affectionately call it The Peterson Chug.

Arthur's head was tilted all the way back, water bottle in a vise grip to force the clear liquid down his throat faster and in greater quantities. Some of it escaped out of the corners of his lips and trailed down his long pale throat, only stopping when the droplets got caught by his shirt collar.

Flying Mint Bunny was currently buried head first in the garden as she shoved the dirt around with her little paws and sometimes used her nose as she dug a rather deep hole. It had been two weeks now since his first job and run in the Francis and Arthur finally had down time to start on his garden. The two magic inclined beings had been working on the yard since the time they had woken up.

They had pulled all the weeds out of the garden, removed the dead bushes littering the yard at the root and had mixed healthier soil with the dry top soil. Now Flying Mint Bunny was attempting to plant flowers, Arthur had to come back and replant then correctly when she wasn't looking, while the blonde Wizard got to work planting a hedge around the yard to replace the chain link fence.

Despite the fact that Arthur's muscles were burning and yelling at him to stop this madness that was gardening, Arthur was having fun and with Flying Mint Bunny's help it was also somewhat of a bonding experience.

It was a nice break from going on job after job. Thankfully they had been easy enough all Arthur had to do was get rid of a few small demons here and there, not the ones that took human forms thankfully, but the constant traveling around the world had worn him out mentally.

A little mind numbing physical labor was doing wonders in helping him come back down to the wonderful world of Sanity.

Arthur was about to put his water bottle back onto the patio table when Flying Mint Bunny suddenly stopped digging and bolted up right onto her back legs, one ear held high while the other flopped down the side of her face.

"Mint?" Arthur set the water bottle down.

 _I'm getting a signal._ Flying Mint Bunny looked over her shoulder at the sliding glass door. Arthur opened his mouth to question her when the door slid open and Gerhart stepped out.

"Arthur, ther-" A high pitched purring squeal interrupted him as Flying Mint Bunny jumped out of her current hole and bounded over to the tall German, stopping only when she got to his feet and then started jumping up and down, squeaking excitedly. "...You want this?" Gerhart asked with a small grin as he took a carrot out of his pocket.

Flying Mint Bunny's wings fluttered and both ears perked up.

 _Yes, yes, that. Give it to me!_ Flying Mint Bunny reached up and caught it as Gerhart dropped it. She fell onto her back and held the carrot with all four paws as she started to eat it, rocking back and forth as she did.

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Arthur, there's a new assignment that just came in," Gerhart said.

"Alright," Arthur sighed.

So much for dedicating the entire day to gardening.

Gerhart led him back inside and to the dining room table, where a file filled with, seemingly harmless, papers lay. Arthur sat down in one of the chairs and looked through the file. It was unusual for the Order to send a file unless there was a visual that went along with it, past victims, unusual phenomena and the like.

There wasn't really much to go on, unfortunately, other than a few reports of the demon being seen around some town and a few select spots that it was seen at multiple times.

Arthur flipped the page and almost had a heart attack at what he saw. It was a picture of a tall blonde man with shoulder length hair that had a slight wave to it and his eyes were a stunning blue.

The angle of the sun hitting him made his hair shine.

He wore a deep blue long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black wrist band on each wrist.

The horns that had previously been on his head where gone. He was smiling and talking to a woman in front of a store that proudly advertised 'We sell all things chocolate!'

"This is the newest demon of lust," Gerhart said. "His saliva acts like an aphrodisiac." Arthur's mind raced back to the day in the maze. _Francis purred and gave Arthur's ear a slow sensual lick._

 _That bastard._ Arthur thought to himself, grinding his back teeth together.

"And it's our job to find him, is it?" Arthur asked rhetorically.

"Find him and kill him." Gerhart said.

Arthur wasn't sure if he could bring himself to do it but he nodded anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

The picture that the Order had sent had been more helpful then they knew. It had been easy to go online and type in the slogan 'We sell all things chocolate!' those few simple words had brought up a few links to the Chocolate Baby Company. It was indeed the only thing they sold and they only had a few shops clustered around London. Arthur knew from reports that once a demon's horns where removed they couldn't move for a few days and then for a few weeks afterward they wore out easily.

Francis needed someplace to hide while those critical weeks past. Arthur scanned the list of shops and their locations until his eyes landed on one that was only ten blocks from a warehouse district on the river. Arthur bet that Francis was around there. The odd trio waited until night, no doubt when Francis would feel safer to be walking around, before they headed out on their new assignment.

Gerhart sat in the driver's seat, Arthur in the passenger's and Flying Mint Bunny was on the floor by Arthur's feet. Both ears where up, head tilting from side to side, as she tried to pick up on anything with a demonic signature that meant other people harm. They were silent as Gerhart drove around in circles that slowly spiraled in on the warehouse district.

They were on the far side of the circle when Flying Mint Bunny jumped onto Arthur's lap and started screaming at the passenger window.

Gerhart stomped on the brakes, nearly banging Arthur' head off the dashboard, and was out the door almost as soon as he had ripped the keys from the ignition. Arthur followed at a more cautious pace. Flying Mint Bunny stopped screaming and flew low to the ground by her master's knees.

There was an abandoned wharf not too far away to their left. It jutted out into the river with multiple run down docks that where no doubt rotting and in the center of the large circle were twin two story buildings.

 _Over there._ Flying Mint Bunny whispered. _Arthur, I don't like it._

"I'll be alright, Mint. Gerhart, I think we should try the wharf." Arthur whispered. Gerhart nodded and drew his, ever present, sword as he moved toward the twin buildings.

Arthur and Flying Mint Bunny trailed behind him.

If they weren't on a hunt for a demon, Arthur would say that it was almost a nice night. It was warm but the cooling breeze felt great against his face.

Arthur's chest felt tight as his heart fluttered with nervousness and a little bit of fear.

Francis probably wouldn't even be here, in fact, they would in all likelihood have to search for weeks before they found him. If a demon didn't want to be seen then they wouldn't be. However, Francis struck Arthur as the kind of man, or the shadow of the man he had been when he was alive, that liked to be showered with attention and affection. That being said, he would slip sooner or later and they would be there when he did.

Arthur's heart calmed down.

No, they wouldn't find anything out here, not tonight.

The presence that Flying Mint Bunny found was probably just a small demon that hated water but lived near it because it wasn't smart enough to move, as some tended to be. Somewhere in his heart Arthur felt sorry for those ones. As they drew closer the temperature seemed to plummet and Arthur's heart gave a painful kick as his fear returned full force. They snuck up to the nearest building, keeping as silent as they could.

Arthur couldn't help but think back to Pirate's Ghost Ship. How cold it had been, perhaps they had stumbled upon another immortal. Only four were known but there was always talk about there being more. If that were the case then why did Flying Mint Bunny scream?

His heart beat double time as Gerhart drew to a stop beside the door, his back to the wall, and listened for any signs of life. Arthur pressed his back to the wall on the opposite side of the door from Gerhart so the stood face to face. The smell of something rotten seeped through the wooden door.

Gerhart tensed, his blue eyes becoming hard, icy.

He motioned for Arthur to take a step back.

Taking air in through his nose and letting it out through his mouth, Gerhart took three deep breaths before carefully pushing the door open. Without the meager barrier the smell waged war on their senses and made them gag. Flying Mint Bunny landed by Arthur's feet and took a step back. Together Gerhart and Arthur inched forward with Flying Mint Bunny trailing behind.

The inside of the building was simple, it was an open floor with windows scattered here and there along the walls. Some were broken and some had been painted over with black paint.

The shadows where cruel in their sharpness and brutal in their ability to hide whatever may have been lurking, unseen, in the corners or in the rafters. All was silent; the only sound to be heard was the soft crunch of the ice and frost underneath their feet. Their breath came out in small puffs of smoke that disappeared into the air.

Arthur swept the room with his gaze, peering as far into the shadows as he could before moving on from the corners and to the rafters. What he saw made him gag so hard he doubled over. Gerhart was instantly by his side.

"Don't look up." Arthur whispered as he tried to control his gag reflex.

"The stench of rotting corpses is not new to me." Gerhart whispered just as quietly and helped Arthur to stand straight.

The young wizard glanced up again.

Above them were multiple corpses, hanging from the rafters by a noose, they were so decayed it was hard to decide if they were male or female. Their eyes where sunken into their skulls and maggots squirmed beneath their flesh. Their mouths hung open in soundless screams of pain and seemed to beg for the mercy that was not shown them.

"Bloodless," Gerhart whispered. Arthur turned to face Gerhart but he was gazing at the corpses. "They've all been drained…We've just stepped into a vampire's lair and by the looks of things, it's a newborn."

 _Arthur, please, I want to leave._ Flying Mint Bunny tugged at Arthur's pant leg. _I'm scared._

"…Lets go," Arthur murmured. "We're looking for a demon not a vampire." Flying Mint Bunny seemed to sigh in relief and pressed against Arthur's leg. Gerhart glanced up at the corpses before nodding.

"Agreed." He said. They turned to leave but before they could take a step toward the door, a dark figure stepped out from the shadows and stood between them and it.

"Leave? Oh, I don't think so. You see, I'm actually quite pleased you found me," The voice was defiantly male and it was bone chillingly familiar. "You just saved me the trouble of hunting you down myself." He growled.

"Vladimir?" Arthur's voice shook. The Romanian stepped forward into the moon light that was let in by one of the windows. The moon shone in just one spot, like a spot light, and Vladimir looked as if he belonged in it.

His hair shone in the weak light, his skin was paler then Arthur remembered it being and his eyes glowed with a red hue. He wore a dark red suite and his miniature top hat was sitting precariously atop his head.

"Surprised?" Vladimir smiled.

His sharp fangs glistened.


	11. Chapter 11

_"_ _Surprised?" Vladimir smiled._

 _His sharp fangs glistened._

Arthur couldn't really say he was. Vladimir had been in the Nocturnal Beasts Department, which deals with werewolves and vampires mostly, it had only been a matter of time before he was lost to them in one form or another. Vampirism appeared to be it. Vladimir licked his fangs and reached up to take his hat off, fingering the edge of it with glove covered hands.

"I am going to enjoy turning you, Arthur, after all, what better person to have as a pawn then your own best friend?" Gerhart growled and stepped forward until he was standing solidly between Vladimir and Arthur.

"Over my dead body." Gerhart raised his sword a little higher into a ready stance.

"Yeah?" Vladimir shifted his weight and chuckled darkly. "Alright." Vladimir tossed his hat aside and lunged at Gerhart. The German easily met him head on; sword flashing and glinting with each attack and counter attack. Arthur quickly took the chalk he always had out of his pocket and franticly sketched a rough fire circle on each palm.

There was a sudden warm sensation that crawled up his neck as all three of his runes activated. Arthur's green eyes narrowed in concentration and determination. Vladimir only had one rune, a Strength rune, which was giving him an upper hand against Gerhart. That coupled with the supernatural speed of a vampire greatly lessened the window of opportunity that Arthur might have at hitting the back of his neck with a fireball.

Gerhart swung but Vladimir easy dodged to the side, Arthur smirked as the Romanian's back was spun toward him. It was like Gerhart had read his mind or something. Arthur flicked his wrist, sending a baseball sized fireball straight at Vladimir. Gerhart sidestepped to get out of the way but that only clued Vladimir in that something was coming at him and so he ducked, the fireball flying harmlessly over his head.

Vladimir spun around, kicking Gerhart to the ground as he did, and ran at Arthur. Teeth bared and eyes flashing with a sudden hate that only vampires appeared to have. He was on the wizard within the blink of an eye, claws raised and pulled back for a punch that would snap bone and peel skin. Arthur waited for the last possible moment before he ducked under Valdimir's swing.

He grabbed the back of the vampire's head with one hand and tried to grab the back of his neck but ended up planting his hand on the top of his spine where the shoulder blades met. Arthur didn't dwell on the small failure as he drove his knee up into Vladimir's stomach, pushing him down into the blow with the hold he had on his back.

Vladimir grunted in pain before quickly recovering. He took a swipe, as best he could, at Arthur as he spun to face his old friend. Arthur took a quick back step, Vladimir's talon like claws just barely skimming across the fabric that covered his chest. Flying Mint Bunny surged forward and sung her teeth into Vladimir's ankle; he tossed his head back and screamed before kicking her up into the air and away from him.

Right into the hanging corpses.

Arthur was about to flick his wrist again but Gerhart was suddenly at his side, an iron grip on his upper arm as he dragged him away from Vladimir and ducking behind a pile of rotting crates, pushing Arthur to the ground until he sat with his back to the crates.

"Stay here," Gerhart ordered.

"What!?" Arthur moved to stand but Gerhart was having none of that and pushed him back down. "I can help, you know I can!" Arthur almost shouted. Behind them they could hear Flying Mint Bunny giving Vladimir a run for his money; it was hard to hit something so small and agile.

"Stay here and out of my way."

"You cannot be serious! Let me help, please!" Arthur knew he sounded desperate and whinny but he couldn't help it, he wasn't a helpless Fledger anymore but Gerhart was still trying to protect him. Gerhart exhaled, and Arthur knew he was itching to strangle him. A high pitched squeal filled the room and then Vladimir was suddenly standing behind Gerhart.

Arthur took great satisfaction in seeing his face so scratched up but that feeling was short and fleeting. Vladimir grabbed Gerhart's shoulder, his long claws digging into the soft flesh and heaved him across the room. Gerhart lost his hold on this sword; it went soaring through the air and clattered to the ground.

He hit the far wall but didn't stop and instead went crashing through it and into the second building with another loud crash of splintering wood and falling support beams. Vladimir grabbed Arthur's neck and lifted him clean off the ground.

The wizard grabbed Vladimir's wrist to help support his own weight.

"After you, I think I'll go after Lukas." Vladimir mused.

"Good luck finding him after I melt your eyes closed." Arthur smirked then flicked his wrists. Fire flew from his fingertips in a great wall of heat and licking flames. Vladimir screamed as they were both engulfed in scorching heat. Arthur couldn't see through the fire very well but he felt Vladimir shift his hold on his throat and then he was flying through the air.

He connected with the wall, head first, crashed through the weakened and rotting wood and into the other building just as Gerhart had. When he landed on solid ground, Arthur rolled a few times before he skid to a stop. Arthur's head was bounding and he felt blood trickle down the sides of his face as he fought to push himself up onto his feet. Gerhart was at his side once again as he helped him up.

 _Arthur!_ Flying Mint Bunny squeaked as she flew through the huge gap in the wall and over to Arthur's side. She was roughed up a bit but wasn't bleeding. Gerhart had blood plastered to about every inch of his body. The smell of rotting flesh was stronger in here making Arthur almost want to puke. He did a quick look around, the ceiling was nothing but glass that let in far more light and up against the wall was a pile of more dead bodies but, unlike the others, these ones hadn't been bleed dry.

Blood seeped into the wood underneath them and there was a decisive dent that looked suspiciously like the outline of Gerhart's body.

Had he landed in them?

Disgusting!

"Are you alright?" Gerhart asked but didn't turn to face Arthur and instead he stood facing the hole in the wall with that insanely huge knife in his hand. There was a tense silence in which Arthur thought two things. One was that he had just killed Vladimir and two it might behoove him to release Flying Mint Bunny to save the gentle yet fierce creature any more pain and injury.

"Mint, I release you, you're free to return to the spiritual plain." Arthur said. Flying Mint Bunny growled and gave his arm a powerful kick that nearly toppled him over.

 _I'm staying!_ She snapped. Arthur paused, shocked, for a moment before he smiled at her. He could admit that he was a little jealous of her, where he had to rely on a rune to give him courage; she could fight her fear and find her own.

"Okay." He smirked.

"That hurt," Vladimir growled from the shadows of the first building. His dark figure swayed back and forth as he made slow progress toward the broken wall. When he got there Arthur got the privilege of seeing his handy work. Vladimir's face was half melted off and his clothes where singed but again the small victory was short lived as his superior healing smoothed out his charred skin and made it as if he had never been burned. "I've decided that I'm going to enjoy _killing_ you!" Vladimir hissed before he advanced.

Gerhart met him once again in their deadly dance of blade and claws. Arthur's vision swam, he shook his head to try to clear it but all he managed to do was make his head pound. Whenever he had a clear shot, Arthur would flick his wrist and send fire shooting toward Vladimir's feet, causing the vampire to hiss and misstep.

Gerhart was backing Vladimir up toward the base of one of the broken support pillars.

The wood reached up toward the glass ceiling with splintered and broken fingers.

Vladimir landed a punch to Gerhart's side, even where Arthur stood several feet away and struggling to stay conscious, the sound of a rib snapping echoed throughout the room. The German grunted and faltered, Vladimir grabbed a fist full of his shirt with one hand and his belt with the other. With little effort he flipped the much larger man over his head, spinning slightly on his heel, Vladimir smashed him onto the wooden beam.

Gerhart gasped in pain as the beam went through his back and out his chest. His blood splattered onto Vladimir's pale face, which was licked away as cruel lips stretched into a self-satisfied smile. Gerhart gaged and wheezed for breath but it was a losing battle. The tension in his strong frame slowly seeped away until he was laying still; his grip on the knife went slack.

Arthur stared wide eyed, his arm held out and his wrist half way between going through the motion of summoning fire. His legs shook and his chest suddenly tightened. Even though his family had died in the house he, once again, called home, he had never seen the death of a human.

His response was neither fight nor flight but freeze.

He couldn't move.

Vladimir turned to face him with a sick grin on his face.

"Well, he did say over his dead body." He taunted taking a step closer.

 _Move._ Arthur ordered himself. Flying Mint Bunny growled but Vladimir kept coming closer and closer. His footsteps upon the wooden floors sounded like a dull thud that promised death.

 _Move!_ Flying Mint Bunny shot forward but with her injuries slowing her down Vladimir easily dodged the ball of green fluff. She flew high and low, passing him several times and each time leaving deep scratches. Vladimir batted at her, hissing, his hand shot out and his claws raked along her stomach as she passed by.

An ear shattering high pitched squeal of pain grated against Arthur's ears but still he couldn't move. Flying Mint Bunny crashed onto the ground and skid to a stop a few feet away from him.

 _MOVE!_ Arthur snapped.

His wrist finished the summoning motion and he put all he had into it, throttling the flames into a roaring beast. Vladimir turned tail and ducked behind one of the still remaining support beams just in time. Arthur's fire was so hot it burned blue as it swept through the room and set all it touched on fire.

The heat of the flames was so hot it dried whatever sweat had collected on his body and boiled the blood of the corpses that lay against the wall.

Arthur made sure that his fire didn't come near Gerhart or Flying Mint Bunny. Vladimir bolted from his hiding place and shot toward the Englishmen. Arthur swung his hand in Vladimir's direction but the vampire was already on him, a quick set of hits were delivered to his face and torso. The sudden pain broke his concentration and the fire stopped flowing.

Vladimir grabbed his arm and twisted him around then pulled him back against his chest.

A hand buried itself in Arthur's shaggy blonde hair and yanked his head back and to the side. He struggled but Vladimir only chuckled, not at all worried that the building they were in was on fire.

 _Ar…thur…_ Flying Mint Bunny's voice was faint and full of pain.

"Mint!" Arthur screamed over the roar of the flames. A sudden stabbing pain shot up Arthur's neck as Vladimir sunk his teeth in as deeply as he could. Arthur's eyes widened as he screamed. Behind him, he could hear Vladimir swallow huge gulps of his blood.

His vision swam not only from the hit to the head but blood loss made the weak moon light fracture and look as if he was gazing at it through the lens of a teleidoscope.

Arthur's struggling became weaker and weaker until they stopped all together and he was left to sag against Vladimir's cold body. His eye lids drooped over his brilliant forest green eyes. That was when he heard a bunch of glass shatter and Vladimir jerked away from him. With his support gone, Arthur fell to the ground into a crumpled heap but he didn't feel it.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion for him.

The flames were so beautiful in their dance as they reached up, up, up. A splotch of green caught his eye and, somehow, he just knew that he needed to reach it.

With all of his remaining strength, Arthur crawled over to Flying Mint Bunny's prone form, ignoring the sounds of hissing and growling that seemed to be everywhere, and collapsed beside her.

His hand shook as he reached over and gently ran his fingers over her soft fur.

"Mint?" His voice came out as nothing more than a whisper. Flying Mint Bunny's eyes fluttered open, now that Arthur was this close to her, he could tell that the void of black she called eyes was actually a very dark green-yellow combination.

 _Ar…thur…I'm so…so tired._ Arthur didn't know what to do, he had already released her so it was up to her to leave and go back to her world and heal but without the strength to do so, she'd just continue to bleed out. _I think…I'll just…rest here for…for a while…_

Her voice trailed off and her eyes fluttered to a close.

"I'll be here…When you wake up, got it?" Arthur asked and pulled her small body into his chest and simply held her.

Something crashed to the floor behind them but he couldn't bring himself to care, he didn't even flinch. Flying Mint Bunny seemed to grow smaller and smaller in his embrace, he looked down at her to see her disappearing into yellow and green sparkles.

Then she was gone, just simply gone.

The small green gem imbedded in the silver ring on the 'ring finger' of his right hand turned black.

The sounds of the hissing and growling had stopped but Arthur didn't care. He watched the fire climb up the walls and eat the wood, threatening to collapse the building. Something snaked underneath his legs and shoulders then he felt himself being lifted up into a comforting embrace, though whose, he didn't know.

He was left staring at the glass ceiling that had a huge hole in it that let in the night sky and twinkling stars. The sound of leather being snapped open was his only warning before the air rushed by him and tousled his hair. The ceiling rushed at him as he was carried out through the gaping glass. The air bit him as it dropped drastically the higher he was carried.

Black spots swam at the edge of his vision as his eyes drooped even further.

The last thing he saw before the sweet mind numbing mercy that is unconsciousness stole him away from the waking world was a set of bright blue eyes framed by flowing golden hair.


	12. Chapter 12

Francis' nose wrinkled in disgust. Arthur's clothes where singed. His throat was covered in blood that was soaking into his shirt collar and his head had a gash in the back that blood was steadily trickling from. Dark red marred the sides of his face from where the blood from his head wound had ran down but now, with him leaning against the wall and sitting up, it ran down the length of his back.

Francis wasn't disgusted with Arthur, never at Arthur, but at himself.

Admittedly he had watched them enter the building but without his horns he hadn't been able to taste their souls. It was only when the place went up in flames that Francis acted but it had been too little too late. Arthur's human aura was being tainted with something darker. Francis didn't know what but he didn't like it.

Francis had flown back to the warehouse he had been holding up in, the entire flight back Arthur had been growing colder and colder as the thing tainting his soul grew stronger. He hadn't been sure what would happen when the smaller blonde woke up but he knew it would be anything but good so he had, somehow, managed to find a long chain and, using his demonic strength, had used a pole he had found and nailed the chain to the wall.

It had been another matter to find some unused metal that he had bent into a pair of handcuffs that he had shaped to look like the cuffs of a suite, put one of the chain links between the two upturned pieces and jammed a small piece of another pole into the cuff. Making a demented and twisted cufflink. Francis' tail flicked back and forth in irritation as he paced the width of the warehouse.

He needed to stop the bleeding from Arthur's skull but at this time of night no store in its right mind would be open an-

Francis stopped dead in his frantic pacing.

Why was he thinking like a human? Cursing at himself, Francis snapped his wings open and flew out of the open window of the warehouse. Arching his back slightly he quickly gained altitude and began his search for the nearest tattoo parlor. It would surprise most; it certainly did him the first time Gilbert had shown him that a tattoo parlor would have all the bare necessities to deal with any number of wounds.

A large supply of disinfectant, gauze; in small squares that almost rendered it useless but not quite and that saran wrap crap that was used for covering a new tattoo. With enough of it, it could also be used to tie the gauze in place. It didn't take long before Francis found what he was looking for. Out of habit he read the name of the parlor and almost snorted at the irony of it.

'Painless Ink' his tail bone.

Francis made himself invisible and walked through the glass window with the red 'closed' sign in bright neon. It smelled like a hospital almost. Too clean, too sanitary. Growling at the unwanted memory of his last trip to the hospital, Francis quickly ransacked the place. Pulling open drawers and cabinets, snitching almost all the gauze, disinfectant swipes, saran wrap, and, as an afterthought, a few shirts that were for sell in the case with the different various piercings.

Francis remained invisible the entire time. He had so much stuff that he ended up wrapping some of the supplies in a few shirts and tied it shut, using his tail to carry it as he slipped out through the window. Francis flew as fast as he could back to the warehouse and landed at Arthur's side. Very carefully, he pulled Arthur away from the wall and let him lean against him, his head resting on his shoulder.

Arthur's head had stopped bleeding but his hair was sticky and made it difficult to part without pulling on his scalp. When Francis uncovered the gash he winced. It was three inches long and the area around it was turning dark red and swelling. Francis pressed a lingering kiss to Arthur's temple in a silent apology before he got to work cleaning it.

He ripped up one of the shirts and used it as a rag that he poured a good amount of disinfectant on and being dabbing at Arthur's wound. The unconscious wizard tensed every time the cloth came in contact with his scalp and Francis tried to not be bothered by it but that was another failing battle.

Finally, after a few tense minutes, Francis pressed a few pieces of gauze to his head and wrapped it place with the saran wrap.

He took great pains in not letting the clear plastic touch itself lest it stick and he wouldn't be able to see through it as clearly as he would have liked, he tied a knot on the side of Arthur's head. This way he could check if the gauze had bled through without having to unwrap and rewrap it each time he checked. Arthur's neck was next.

Francis tore up another shirt and repeated the process of cleaning the wound. Saying his neck looked like it had been bitten was like saying atom bombs resembled daisies. The flesh was destroyed and mangled with hunks of skin hanging off his neck in some places; it looked like a rabid dog, not a man, had taken a bite out of him. A low growl rumbled through the demon's chest as he finished wrapping it in the same manner as he had his head.

As carefully as he could, Francis leaned Arthur back against the wall and moved to stand when more smudges of red caught his eye. His shirt, formally clean and no doubt pressed, was now rumbled and covered in sweat, blood and ash. Francis knew Arthur wasn't weak by any stretch of the imagination but seeing that much gore on his face was devastating. The younger blonde had already experienced so much pain and sadness.

How much more was he expected to take?

No, Francis wouldn't let him suffer anymore. Somehow, some way, he'd make this better and, whether Arthur wanted him to or not, he'd do exactly what Gilbert was doing. He'd watch over him, protect him.

Francis' heart gave a painful squeeze.

When had he started to care about Arthur so much?

When had his heart started beating for the blonde wizard?

When had his simple lusting turned into complex affection?

He couldn't say but it was starting to scare him.

However, first thing was first, that shirt needed to go.

Francis used his claws to rip the shirt open, he couldn't help but explore the pale flesh that was exposed with his eyes and he was surprised to see that there were no further injuries. Save for a few bruises here and there but that was it. Francis wanted to shot himself in the foot with a paintball gun for not paying the attention Arthur obviously deserved. He hadn't properly worshiped that skin last time but he would next time. He vowed to himself that there would defiantly be a next time.

Francis quickly unshackled Arthur's wrists, something he could have done earlier had he been thinking, and quickly slipped one of the stolen shirts over his head. He then shackled him again. Francis sat down next to Arthur and draped his wing across his smaller frame and then he did the only thing he could do.

He waited.

 **~~~It is I, Larry the time skip!~~~**

The open window let in the sun's weak morning rays as she took over for her sister, the moon, turning night into day. Francis hadn't moved an inch. Sometime in the night Arthur had shifted closer to the demon in his search for warmth, now his head rested against his chest and he was curled up against his side. Francis' arm was wrapped around his shoulders, his wing still acting like a blanket.

In this moment, the Frenchmen could almost pretend that everything was fine, that everything was perfect, even as the Englishmen at his side made soft noises of distress in his sleep. The day wore on and still Arthur didn't wake. Francis checked his wounds through the saran wrap and changed the bandage covering his head once before returning to Arthur's side.

Were he stayed for the duration of the day.

It was only as the sun let her sister take over again that Arthur started to stir. It started as restless tossing that grew in violence to the point that Francis had to get up and move away from him. The French demon watched, heart filled in anxiety and helplessness before Arthur's eyes suddenly snapped open.

Without hesitation he bolted to his feet and lunged at Francis with a savage roar that was nowhere near human. Francis' eyes grew wide. Arthur's once beautiful, sparkling, bottle green gems he claims are his eyes had turned into pools of dark crimson but they weren't like Gilbert's. Arthur's eyes where filled with murderess hunger. His teeth had turned into sharp fangs and his nails into claws that were shorter than the demon's.

On instinct, Francis hissed back with narrowed blue eyes to warn him off, even though the wizard-turning-vampire couldn't reach him.

Arthur continued to growl, hiss and scream for hours as he struggled against his chains, trying to get at the demon. The sun was streaming through the window and bathing the warehouse in its warm rays when he finally stopped.

Arthur slumped against the wall, exhausted but not enough to sleep. His shoulders were hunched, his head bowed and his breathing heavy and painful. A feverish sweat beaded on his forehead, dripped down the sides of his face and dropped off his jaw to be soaked into his shirt, which clung to his slight frame.

He was beautiful in his suffering.

Wild, furious, and strong; both physically and mentally.

Arthur was fighting as hard as he could even though giving into the darkness tainting him would have been much easier. Francis was sure that it was only Arthur's pride and will to not go down without a struggle kept him from doing so.

The younger blonde stayed exactly where he was until his breathing evened out.

"Arthur, how do you feel?" Francis asked hesitantly. Arthur gave a tired groan. Francis took it that he didn't have the energy at the moment to talk so he fell silent.

"…Francis?" Arthur asked after a few hours, his voice was rough from the endless use.

"Oui? Francis perked up but didn't move any closer. He refused to admit he was afraid, no, he was simply being careful.

"…I…want you to kill me," Francis was sure he felt his heart come to a complete stop before it started beating painfully again.

"Quoi, non! Why would you ask me that?!"

"Because I can't do it, I just can't, and you're a demon it's what you do, isn't it!?" Francis' warm eyes turned to ice. He stormed over to Arthur, roughly grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at him.

"There is always a reason even if you can't see it. You're at rock bottom, Arthur; the only way to go is up!"

"What the bloody Hell do you know about it!?" Arthur's voice was filled with emotion to the point it almost choked him.

"Everything!" Francis shouted. They remained silent as they stared at each other, then, "I know what it feels like, lapin, trust me, I do." Arthur glared disbelievingly.

Francis let go of Arthur's chin and held up both wrists for him to see, they were still covered by his wrist bands.

"The scars are gone because this is a new body but I did drugs when I was alive. I over dosed so bad once that I was in a coma, and after the two people that were always there for me died, I hit rock bottom and didn't see how I could get back to the surface. So I took what little life I had left and cut it open with a razor." Arthur's eyes widened a fraction and then slowly glazed over with unshed tears.

For himself or Flying Mint Bunny and Gerhart or for Francis, none knew.

They looked at each other for a moment longer before a heart wrenching sob, full of heartbreak, loss and despair, was torn from Arthur's throat.

The demon rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the wizard comfortingly, holding him close as Arthur cried for the first time in years.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been three days and four nights since the first night of Arthur's endless howls of pain and hunger. It was the beginning of the fourth day but the wizard was unable to fall asleep. Even though he had remained awake for those three days and four nights.

Arthur had told Francis exactly what happened with Vladimir, filling in what a vampire was to the demon, who had not been dead long enough to encounter one himself and who had not believed in them in life.

The Englishmen's emotions had been erratic until recently while he not only tried to come to terms with the death of Gerhart and Flying Mint Bunny but the physical pain of being stuck between a human and a vampire was extraordinary. Arthur would cry and mourn the loss one second but then be unexplainably angry the next. He didn't have much experience with vampires as a whole but the Order had taught him the basics of it.

You're bitten, you pass out, you wake up, you feed on human blood and you're transformation is complete. You could put a stick in the gears if you didn't drink any human blood but the hunger would eventually build to the point that you wouldn't be able to hold yourself back. Being stuck in between forms also meant that the vampire side of Arthur would come out only at night while his human side came out during the day. Good thing Francis had Arthur chained to a wall.

Still, the demon's words had stung him. Arthur was sick with himself that he would give up so easily after everything he'd been through. That first day he had quite without so much as a fight! Whether Francis knew it or not, the demon had become Arthur's strength to endure the long nights of a burning throat, aching limps and joints and the small voice in his head that commanded him to feed. Arthur had never felt so much pain before and every night it only grew worse.

Arthur tried to convince himself it was irrelevant as he leaned against the cold wall, ignoring the cold seeping into his feet. His shoes and socks had long been tossed across the room in a vampiric fit of rage. He found himself missing the warmth of a certain great bat-like wing as he finally allowed himself to sleep.

```

Francis smiled gently down at the wizard that lay below him. The demon was crouched down in the rafters. He took the time to once again examine Arthur's face. His skin was much paler and his hair looked deflated. Dark circles lay beneath his eyes as his chest rose and fell with his steady breathing. Francis wanted him, not as a play thing like so many others, but as an equal partner, someone to share his, or lack thereof, life with. Francis shook his head.  
Stop deluding yourself! He scolded. You're dead. You can't have a life with someone anymore. Sweets, he needed something sweet to chew on and he knew just where to go.

```

Arthur woke up to the feeling of something gently pressing against the back of his head. It didn't hurt but it defiantly had a slight sting to it, similar to poking a bruise. Arthur groaned and tried to tilt his head away from the probing fingers but found that he couldn't. His head was being firmly held against someone's, most likely Francis', shoulder while his face was turned away so that he faced the wall and gave the demon a clean line of sight to the back of his head. The sun was shining brightly through the window and Arthur guessed it was about noon.

"Dose it hurt?" Francis asked in a surprisingly lowered voice, he was almost whispering but not quite.

"Only when certain wankers jab at it!" Arthur hissed. Francis chuckled, Arthur's eye brow twitched as the sound made his stomach flip flop. He could safely admit to himself that he had fallen, or was in the process of falling, for the demon. It was hard not too when he had saved him more than once and general kept his hands to himself, not something Arthur had anticipated from the demon of lust.

"Well good news is that that wound doesn't need to be bandaged anymore." Francis said. Arthur nodded against his shoulder.

Francis pushed him away to stand up, taking the old and bloody bandages with him. The demon tossed them into an old metal oil barrel and fished out a box of matches from his pocket. With a deft flick of his wrist, Francis lit a match and dropped it into the barrel.

The small fire didn't last long, nor did Francis' desire to watch it burn out. He walked over to the low sitting make shift table were a small red box lay, Arthur couldn't see what was inside it, and sat down on the nearby crate. Francis plucked something small, round shaped and brown from the box and bit it in half.

"Francis…what are those?" Arthur asked as he swallowed harshly. His throat burned and his body ached but it was better than feeling Vladimir's fangs in his neck. Francis glanced over, he took the half eaten ball of chocolate out of his mouth and held it between his thumb and ring finger, which Arthur found odd but didn't question it.

"Chocolates," A slow smirk crept onto his handsome face and his crystal eyes obtained a certain twinkle that Arthur swore he had seen before but couldn't remember where. "Do you want one?"

"Will they help with the pain?" Arthur asked sarcastically. Francis nodded, making the Wizard scoff. The demon uncurled his legs gracefully and stood up from the crate he had been sitting on. Putting the half eaten ball of chocolate between his teeth, Francis walked over to Arthur and kneeled down in front of him. Leaning forward, he tilted his head but stopped before the piece of candy could come in contact with Arthur's lips.

Arthur arched a thick eyebrow.

The demon could not be serious but yet his request was plain as day, to Arthur's dismay. What other choice did he have though? Be in pain or pay Francis for the chocolate, which would supposedly take away said pain, with a small kiss. Green eyes fluttered to half-mast as Arthur leaned forward and pressed his lips to Francis', taking the piece of chocolate into his mouth as he did so.

Pulling back Arthur chewed almost hesitantly before swallowing. Francis' blue eyes were a visibly darker shade of blue and a small smile played on his lips. It was the look someone had when they knew something you didn't. Arthur was about to open his mouth to question the demon when his body started to feel hot. It wasn't unbearable but it was uncomfortable. Arthur shifted and looked to the side.

The heat slowly built up and trailed white hot fingers down his spine, making him shiver, Francis stayed where he was and watched Arthur as he fought to keep the heat down and his breathing steady. His very cells trembled with greed. It wanted to control his every action, his every thought and response, and Arthur found that he didn't want to fight it.

Without knowing why and not caring either, Arthur's hand shot forward and grabbed Francis' collar, using it to drag him bodily into himself. The wizard smashed their mouths together, bumping teeth and half way missing his target. Francis smiled into it, one hand going for the back of Arthur's neck and the other placed firmly on his side as he pried Arthur's mouth open with his tongue. Arthur grabbed onto the back of Francis' shirt almost desperately as he wrapped his legs around him and pulled him closer.

Francis hummed, the hand on Arthur's side slipped under his shirt and trailed up his ribcage, he let his nails scratch every now and then. Arthur moaned and arched into it. Francis suddenly gave a harsh suck to Arthur's tongue before trailing open mouth kisses across his jaw and down to his neck.

Arthur tilted his head back in a wordless command to keep going. Francis chuckled; his hand crawled higher to Arthur's chest and took one of his nipples between his thumb and index finger. Arthur gasped and bucked his hips, their clothed erections rubbed against each other harshly, dragging a low groan from Francis and a louder gasp from Arthur.

Francis pulled away and quickly stripped Arthur of his shirt, which the wizard responded too in kind. The two pieces of clothing where thrown somewhere to the side. Francis' smooth thinly muscled torso was only interrupted by the dark bruise like mark that ran along his stomach, wrapped around his back and stopped in the center of his chest.

It was the demon's tail as it lay just beneath his skin.

Arthur tangled his fingers into Francis' long hair and pulled him into another kiss, this one less sloppy, their tongues rubbed against each other and explored the other's mouth. Arthur wrapped his arm around Francis' shoulders and slowly leaned back until he was lying down with the demon on top of him.

Francis bent down to nibble Arthur's ear lobe and moaned as he shivered against him. Francis curled his tongue around the shell of Arthur's ear as his hand found the Englishmen's chest again and pinched his nipple. Arthur moaned loudly and arched so sharply his entire back came off the ground.

Francis snaked a hand around Arthur's waist and held him against him.

Hot skin against hot skin. Arthur growled impatiently, his hands going for the front of Francis' pants, unbuttoning them and yanking the zipper down almost violently. His hand delved into them and firmly wrapped the burning flesh into a tight hold. Francis pulled away from the side of Arthur's face to toss his head back with a growl of his own, sharp fangs bared at the ceiling.

The feral sound made Arthur shiver.

Francis dove in and claimed Arthur's mouth again, his tongue forcing its way inside, he almost recoiled from the taste of Arthur's soul. It was so hot, hotter than the last time he had stuck his tongue down his throat. It was different this time around, Arthur actually felt some level of affection for him, unlike that time in the maze, and Francis felt his heart swell.

It wasn't just the chocolate.

Arthur wanted this too.

Arthur tugged on Francis' cock, making the demon grunt in pleasure, Arthur swallowed the sound greedily. Francis tore the Englishmen's hands from his pants and stood up. Arthur whined from the sudden loss of contact and raised himself up onto his elbows.

The chains rattled.

Francis quickly shed his pants and boxers and then crouched down to straddle Arthur again. He attacked the pale chest below him with his mouth, licking, sucking, and _worshiping_ him as he ran his hands teasingly down his body and stopping at the obvious bulge in his jeans. Arthur bucked into his hand and it was then that Francis decided play time was over.

The Frenchmen yanked off Arthur's pants, his boxers along with them, and tossed them away. Arthur's pale skin was slicked with sweat and shone in the sunlight that came in from the window. His emerald jade eyes dark and half lidded with unadulterated want and lust.

"Your wings," Arthur managed between pants. "I want to see them." Francis paused but after a moment let them resurface from the confines of his skin. He unfolded them slowly to their full length. Arthur gazed at them for a few moments before rewrapping his legs around Francis' waist. The demon folded his wings half way so that they wouldn't unbalance him too badly.

Arthur took three of Francis' fingers into his mouth and sucked on them. Francis choked on a groan as Arthur rolled his tongue between each digit. When Francis deemed them wet enough he pulled them out of Arthur's mouth with a pop. Reaching down Francis teased Arthur's entrance; the younger blonde rolled his head from side to side as light moans escaped him, until he relaxed enough that Francis was able to press the first finger in.

Arthur tensed but forced himself to relax again as Francis moved his finger in and out slowly. When he loosened some more Francis added the second followed closely by the third. Arthur winced so Francis moved slower. He wasn't going to hurt him, at least no more than absolutely necessary. It took a few tries but Francis soon had Arthur arching up into him again, screaming, as he brushed against his sweet spot.

Those glorious nerves.

Francis peppered Arthur's face with small kisses as he withdrew his fingers and touched the head of his cock to Arthur's entrance. He opened his mouth to ask if he was ready when Arthur wrapped his arms around Francis' shoulders, pulling him down until their chests touched. The chains seared ribbons of ice cold along the demon's back. Arthur's legs wrapped around his hips once again and pulled him closer until the tip of Francis' cock entered him with little resistance.

Arthur hissed but he didn't stop until Francis was all the way inside him.

Francis breathed steadily into the crook of Arthur's neck as he tried to control himself enough to let him adjust. Arthur shivered from the sensation of Francis' hot breath ghosting over his neck. He gave an experimental thrust up and then nodded as the burning pain lessened. Francis pulled out slowly and thrust back in at the same pace, he didn't want this to be like last time. This time it would different.

Arthur sighed and leaned his head back as Francis continued to slowly slide in and out, it was slow enough to ease the initial pain away but fast enough to build a constant friction. Green eyes rolled back as Arthur lifted his hips up to meet Francis' down thrusts. Slowly they moved against each other faster and faster, writhing and moaning into each other's skin. Breathing the same air as their mouths met multiple times.

This wasn't sex, Arthur realized a little late, this was love making. Francis was doing everything he could to make it pleasurable for Arthur regardless of his own needs.

Pleasure suddenly spiked up Arthur's spine as Francis hit his sweet spot again.

He screamed and clutched onto the demon harder. Francis' thrusts grew in intensity and strength. He angled his hips to hit that spot nearly every time. Arthur's shouts of pleasure drowned out Francis' grunts and groans.

"F-Francis, Francis, Francis," Arthur chanted between screams. Francis had his face buried in Arthur's neck, mouthing sweet nothings in French. Their thrusts lost all rhythm as they neared their peak. Arthur arched harshly and screamed the French demon's name as he was thrown head first into a world of white as he came.

The sticky whiteness painting their sweat covered chests. Francis gave a few more powerful thrusts before following, groaning into Arthur's neck as he filled him.

Together they rode out their highs, thrusting lazily every now and again. Francis pulled out and pushed himself off of Arthur and onto his elbows. They stared at each other as they fought for their breath.

"You really are the demon of lust, aren't you?" Arthur murmured out of the blue once he got his breath back.

"Is that what you call me? No, lapin, we don't have a demon dedicated to one of the seven deadly sins. Some traits of when we were alive follow us into death but are amplified by whatever power you gain as you climb the latter. Me, I could seduce whoever I wanted in a matter of minutes."

"I see," Arthur said slowly, his eyelids fluttered with the fight against sleep. Francis planted a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Go to sleep, Arthur."

"Yeah…Okay."

Francis waited for Arthur to be asleep before he picked himself up and redressed then redressed Arthur. Dealing with a naked half crazy vampire would not be fun when the moon came out tonight. Francis flew up into the rafters again to watch over his human. Tomorrow he swore that he'd work on finding Vladimir and make him pay for the pain he put Arthur in.

A low growl rumbled through his chest.


	14. Chapter 14

Arthur gasped as he bolted up right; the chains rattle with the sudden movement and jerked his arms back almost painfully. A rush of air and the sound of leather being folded alerted him of Francis' presents at his side. Beads of sweat trailed down the back of his neck but Arthur paid the slight irritation no mind as his body was wracked with pain. A small shuffling noise was all the warning he got before Arthur found himself being lifted and set down on Francis' lap, strong yet gentle arms wrapped around him and held him close to the demon's chest.

Arthur clung to him, face buried in his shoulder as his hands gripped the back of Francis' blue shirt. The Frenchmen's wings were pulled into his back to protect them from Arthur's death grip as his tail curled around the Englishmen's waist. Arthur's pride didn't allow him to break in front of Francis since the time he asked him to kill him but that didn't mean he would turn a cold shoulder when comfort was given, no matter how small.

Francis pressed a lingering kiss to Arthur's temple.

A wave of warmth washed over the trembling wizard and eased the pain. Arthur's eyes widen at the familiar charm. It was the only one that anyone could cast; it was so easy that most never realized they cast it in the first place. However it only worked on someone you loved. The charm was known mostly for when a parent kisses a child's scrapped knee and takes the pain away but that wasn't its only use.

The more someone loved the other, the more powerful the charm and Francis had just…oh bugger. Arthur didn't know if he should be happy or livid. Happy because the demon returned his feelings, however fleeting they may have been. Livid because he let himself feel said feelings to the point that Francis caring that much made him happy.

His grip on Francis' shirt tightened.

"Shh," Francis started rubbing soothing circles into Arthur's back. "It'll be okay, you'll get through this. I swear it." he said it with such conviction that Arthur couldn't have argued even if he wanted to and he found that he had no other choice but to believe him.

Yeah, he'd be fine but what about everyone else that Vladimir had attacked? Would Lukas be okay knowing one of his friends had turned into a rampaging vampire and had harmed another close friend?

Would he be okay when Vladimir-

"Lukas!" Arthur jolted in Francis' hold, grabbing onto the front of his shirt instead, "Vladimir's going after Lukas," Francis' eyebrows drew together in confusion.

Arthur felt like cursing himself, with all of the drama going on he'd never once mentioned his oldest friend to Francis. Actually other than Francis admitting that he'd committed suicide, Arthur didn't know a thing about him and vice versa.

"Francis, please, we need to find him. I can't lose anyone else." Arthur pleaded. Francis closed his eyes briefly and nuzzled into Arthur's hair.

"…Okay…" Francis sighed. "So, tell me about him." Arthur pressed against Francis once before leaning back to look up at him. Relief flooded Arthur; the few hours of sleep he was able to get didn't do anything to erase the dark circles under his eyes.

"I can find him all I need is a land line." Arthur said.

"Arthur…You're…I can't," Francis inhaled deeply. "You're too dangerous to let move around," Francis grabbed Arthur's forearms and lifted his metal clad wrists to his lips. "I hate these. I hate watching you fight every night. I hate seeing how pale and exhausted you've gotten, but I can't." Arthur's eyes flashed but he knew he was right.

A thought came to him then, as crazy as it was but he didn't really have any other plan. Doing something was better than sitting around doing nothing.

"My house has a really big basement and it's not too far away," Arthur offered. "I can use the phone there and once we find Lukas we'll go to him and set a trap for Vladimir."

"Assuming I can fly us there within a day but you have a great plan nonetheless." Francis said. He paused to think and then nodded once to himself. "Think we can make it to your house within the few hours of sun left?"

"…maybe." Arthur admitted.

"Let's give it our best shot." His face was set into a determined frown.

Without hesitating another second, Francis leaned up and over Arthur, with one heave the pole nailing the chain to the wall was pulled free. The next moment Arthur found himself swept up into Francis' strong arms, bridle style, and a harsh wind tossed his hair around as Francis unfurled his wings. The demon grabbed the pole with his tail before launching them into the air, out the window and into the bright light of day.

Arthur's stomach jumped into his throat as Francis arched his back and quickly gained altitude. The steady beating of leather could barely be heard over the rush of air.

Arthur felt his mouth drop open slightly; he inhaled a deep lungful of air as he gazed down at the city of London. He had to yell over the wind to direct Francis to his house.

Arthur was surprised at how little time it took to reach the grand building.

It was a relief as much as it was a disappointment. It would have been nice to be able to stay in the demon's strong embrace and in the air for a little while longer but, alas, there were more pressing matters. Francis touched down in the back yard. His wings folded against his back as he walked to the back door. When they reached it, Francis jerked to a halt.

"Arthur, I can't set foot inside someone's home unless I'm invited in," He said setting the pole down. Arthur nodded, "You're welcome to come in." He said. Francis slid the spaded end of his tail between the lock and the door frame like a credit card, the door swung open with ease.

Arthur's head lolled back off of Francis' shoulder as the familiar pain gripped him. His view of the world was turned upside down making the setting sun look like it was sinking up instead of down. Francis held Arthur tighter as he started trembling and gasping for breath. Picking up the pole again, Francis strode into the house and franticly searched for the door that led to the basement.

Rounding a corner Francis stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hi Mr. Demon!" Peter smiled, Hanatomago's little white tail was wagging as Peter held the dog close to his chest. "Looking for something?" He asked but then his eyes fell on his brother. Arthur's trembling grew in intensity until he was convulsing, the chains hanging from his wrists jingled with the sudden movements, Francis held him tighter.

"Where's the basement, little ghost?" Francis asked as patiently as he could, using the nickname he had given Peter to, hopefully, ease the worry swimming in Peter's blue eyes. Peter spun on his heel and led Francis further down the hall, around another corner and down a flight of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a heavy looking door.

Francis took the stairs three at a time, kicking the door open when he reached the bottom. The basement was made of stone instead of concrete, book shelves lined two of the four walls, all of them filled with books and jars.

Some of the jars glowed, softening the shadows but casting some of the books in a harsher light. It was cold and unforgiving. Francis strode over to the far wall and set Arthur down as gently as the, now thrashing, Englishmen allowed him too. Taking the chains in a tight hold, Francis hoisted Arthur into a sitting position. The blonde let out a growl that boarder lined animalistic.

Francis then wedged the pole through the links with his tail.

The stone wall cracked in a web pattern as he forced the pole into the wall above Arthur's head. The wizard suddenly lunged forward with a snarl and sunk his fangs into the demon's arm. Francis roared as he jumped back, tearing it out of Arthur's grasp. Covering the wound with his hand, Francis could feel warm blood ooze from underneath his fingers. He mentally shrugged it off. A small bite wasn't anything to worry about when you healed as fast as he did.

Arthur thrashed making the metal cuffs dig into his wrists as he howled and screamed. His eyes had once again taken on a deep crimson hue. He was pulling harder than the previous nights and the fear of him dislocating a shoulder seemed quite real. Sadness tugged at the French demon's heart. He didn't want the one he cared about to have to go through this kind of pain. Worst, still, he didn't want to watch it.

Turning on his toe, Francis expected to find Peter behind him but the small ghost was nowhere in sight. Good, now he had something to do. Walking out of the basement Francis left the door open so that he'd know when Arthur became lucid again. Touring the house, Francis finally came across a hallway with multiple doors. One of the doors on the right was left open. Quietly, but not so silent as to be suspicious, Francis stepped into the room.

It was bare, yet Peter was standing off to the left of the room and facing the wall but he wasn't looking at the whiteness that covered it. He was looking at the ground. Francis crossed his arms loosely over his chest as he came up beside the small ghost.

They stood in near silence, the only sound echoing through the house were those of Arthur's screams.

"…What's it like…moving on?" Peter's whispered voice sounded like wind through a meadow.

"It's like the weight of the world being lifted off your shoulders. This is where you died, non?"

"Mhmm." Peter nodded. "But it's okay because being a ghost is kind of fun,"

"You think so?"

"Of course! I've learned so much about a lot of things." A sudden idea came to Francis, it was a bit of a long shot but it was worth that shot. "Do you know anything about vampires?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Peter's face split into a huge grin and he turned away from gazing at the floor to face Francis. "Did you know that when a vampire is a made, the reason they go on a rampage without their maker around is because they think that they still need to eat but really they don't. It's just their body trying to compensate for the sudden lack of nutrience. Oh! And did you know that the reason a dead vampire will suddenly appear with no clear sign of death is because they usually drank too much? Yeah, I was kind of surprised the first time I heard about it from Tino.

Apparently when a vampire sucks on you, they're not just latching on to your body but also your soul. When they bleed you dry and kill you, their victim's soul grabs onto the vampire's and drags them into Death's awaiting arms with them!" Peter finally paused in his mini rant to gaze out of the window at the moon.

"Of course there are ways to jump through the many loop holes. Like hanging the victim upside down and draining them that way or they could always stop drinking before they kill them but that's dangerous because the victim has a slim chance of becoming a vampire. So…yeah."

Francis stared at Peter with a look of awe on his face. Who would have thought that he knew so much? It was kind of like he was playing stupid. That or he was still such a child, mentally; that he just didn't think that information would be helpful. That it was just fun facts to know.

"If Arthur was to drain the vampire that attempted to turn him, would that kill him or…?" Francis swallowed unable to finish that sentence. Peter looked back at the demon.

"No. It would kill his vampire side…I think," His blue eyes darted around the room as he thought before settling back on Francis' face. "Yeah, because right now his soul is unbalanced. During the day his human part-I'm gonna call it the blue side-is dominating the vampire part-I'll call that the yellow side-. But during the night the yellow side overlaps the blue side, so if he drained the vampire when the yellow side was overlapping then only that side would die."

Francis felt hope swell in his chest. "So we can still save him," he mused to himself.

His tail flicked back and forth.

"In theory." Peter said.

"Quoi?"

"Vampires are parasites. Arthur's yellow side might latch onto his blue side in an attempt to stay connected to its 'host'."

"But you said that the victim's soul could latch onto the vampire's when they were bled dry. Wouldn't his vampire side latch onto Vladimir and, in doing so, let go of the human side?" Peter looked down at Hanatomago and shrugged.

Francis kneeled down and took Peter's face between his hands.

"You are incroyable!" Francis exclaimed and planted a kiss to each of Peter's cheeks, making an obnoxious 'muah' sound each time.

 **~~Me again, Larry the time skip~~**

Morning came and eased Arthur's suffering. The dawn found the three blondes in the kitchen. In the night Arthur had managed to rub his wrists raw and strain his shoulder. Francis had wrapped them in gauze, much to Arthur's chagrin, to help prevent further injury. Arthur sat at the table with the phone's cord stretched along the ground, leading to the cradle nailed to the wall.

"This is Arthur Kirkland, I was wondering if you could tell me if Lukas Bondevik is currently on an assignment?" Arthur inquired. "Yes, I've tried the bloke at home but he's not answering…Yes, I also tried his cell phone,"

Lies, all of it. They knew that Lukas was on an assignment they just didn't know where.

"Thank you, ma'am." Arthur stood up and hung up the phone. "He's in Røa, Norway." Arthur said as he spun around to face Francis, "Can you fly us there in a day?"

"Oui. It only takes two days to fly over the North Pacific Ocean if you start in Germany. We only need to skip over a small piece of the Atlantic."

"Then what are we waiting for?" The dark circles under Arthur's eyes were darker but the determination burning in their depths was brighter then Francis had ever seen before.

He could almost taste the sweetness of a well-rested night, free of pain, free of fear.

Arthur was so close to ending this slow torture.

Nothing was going to stand in his way.

Not Francis.

Not Peter.

Not Lukas or Mathias and definitely not the sun.


	15. Chapter 15

Lukas and Mathias just finished burning a seal into the ground in front of a giant mausoleum that housed the bones of a small breed of troll. These trolls were fast, agile, with long spikes on their shoulders to help protect their necks. They had tracked them down, killed them, skinned them and scattered their bones within the mausoleum.

The moon was almost full, casting a bright glowing pale blue light. The shadows reached far and wide, linking fingers with the shadow next to it to create a single, seamless, form of black.

Unless someone knew what their skeletons looked like and had experience with resurrection, these trolls would never be a problem again. The mausoleum was hidden deep within the nearby forest. The fight had knocked over a lot of trees; large splinters had gone flying and now litter the torn and tattered ground. Making an extremely rough, debris filled, clearing.

Splatters of blood covered almost every inch of the battle field. Multiple blood smears led into the mausoleum from when Lukas and Mathias had drug the corpses inside to be skinned. A dull 'thunk' filled the air as Mathias dug the top of his battle axe into the ground, propping his foot against the blade as he leaned forward on the end of it with his elbow. The satisfied grin stretching his mouth didn't escape Lukas and, truth be told, he was fighting one himself.

After slaughtering so many trolls it was a true testament to their skills that neither of them had sustained more than a bruise.

"That was fun," Mathias grinned, sweat dripping down the side of his face. If there was ever a blood thirsty Viking, Mathias fit the bill. Being from Denmark he always claimed to be a Viking. Lukas was about to roll his eyes when his Green Troll turned around and snorted a warning much like a pissed off bull. Immediately Mathias had his axe back in his hands and at the ready. Lukas turned to face the same way his troll was, hands half curled into fists that glowed blue with undirected, raw, magic.

A deep rumbling chuckle filled the still air, followed by a dark figure stepping out of the tree line and into the clearing that was created not 20 minutes ago. Lukas tensed as Vladimir stopped a few feet away and removed his miniature top hat, holding it by his stomach as he ran his fingers over the rim.

"You're looking well, Lukas," Vladimir grinned, the moon light making his pale skin look even paler and his fangs gleam.

"It appears that the same cannot be said about yourself," Lukas said coldly.

Vladimir's red tinged eyes fluttered closed as he inhaled deeply. "The smell of blood is so beautiful," He purred, opening his eyes to lock gazes with Lukas. "And I feel great. Shame the same can't be said for our short tempered Brit,"

Lukas' eyes remained dull, blank of emotion but his fists curled until his knuckled turned white. The Green Troll felt his anger and bellowed steam through his nose.

Mathias' eyes narrowed, he had actually grown to like Arthur; he was good kid, the grip on his axe shifted as he stepped up to stand beside Lukas.

"What did you do him?" Mathias growled. Vladimir sighed almost in a frustrated manner, like the answer was painfully obvious, and really it was.

"I do hope you can put up a better fight then Gerhart , Arthur and his moss covered rodent had." Vladimir grinned.

Lukas' eyes hardened.

The Green Troll charged with an enraged roar.

```

To Francis' horror, the sun was gone and, with it, so were Arthur's rationality and clear head. Francis flew after him, keeping pace with the super speed of a vampire with an Agility rune surprisingly well. Blood tainted the air but Arthur knew it wasn't human, it was the stench of troll, something Arthur was semi-grateful for. But something was wrong, the forest was too still, holding its breath as it waited for a storm to hit and pass before daring to move again.

It was amazing to be running at such speeds without getting tired. Is this what Vladimir felt? No, he only had a Strength rune, as such he couldn't gain the speeds Arthur could but he was that much stronger.

The blonde only had agility, stamina and courage on his side. A sick, feral grin appeared on Arthur's face as he ran, the steady beating of wings served as white noise behind him. He couldn't have asked for a more perfect challenge. Arthur's heart beat double time as the smell of human blood suddenly filled the air.

Arthur raised his hand and bit into his thumb.

The sharp jolt of pain as his fangs jammed into bone was enough to send the animal back a few steps with its tail between its legs.

"Arthur, êtes-vous d'accord?" Francis asked. Arthur scoffed, it didn't matter if he was or not, as long as he managed to keep the urge to feed back enough to think straight then he would continue forward.

"I don't speak amphibian!" He shouted over his shoulder. Far in the distance, Arthur could hear a brutal fight taking place. It had always amazed him how far sound traveled in the forest. Growling, he ran faster. Arthur didn't care that he was, in all likelihood, racing to his death. He had to get there and finish this, one way or another, it ended tonight.

At the very least he was going to save Lukas.

No one else was going to die unless it was either Vladimir or himself and if he needed to die in order to take him out of this world then so be it. It felt like it took them forever, each second dragging on for a year, before they finally crested a hill and laid eyes on the bloody scene before them.

The trees had either been broken in half, knocked over by a great force or had been ripped from the Earth completely. Creating a rough clearing with large pieces of wood and random tree trunks dotting the area. Off to the side was a mausoleum that Arthur didn't pay too much attention to. The ground had been over turned so much that it was turning to mud in some places as blood shimmered in the moon light in others. It looked more like a swamp then a forest.

Mathias' lay face down in the dirt and surrounded by a growing puddle of his own blood. His axe lay in two halves a ways away from him. Lukas' Green Troll spirit was nowhere in sight, either killed or unable to exhausted to retain physical form, Arthur couldn't say. Vladimir had Lukas pinned against a tree, holding him in place by a hand to his throat.

Lukas had both hands gripping Vladimir's wrist and forearm with one of his feet planted on the vampire's chest.

Holding himself up so that his own bodyweight wouldn't aid in Vladimir's attempt to choke him to death. Arthur felt the blood crazed vampire raise within him and this time he didn't stop it.

With a shout that sounded somewhere between a scream and a roar, Arthur took off down the hill.

Vladimir pulled back from Lukas' face just in time for Arthur's fist to connect with his jaw. The impact rattled Arthur's teeth as Vladimir was sent, quite literally, flying back across the clearing. Doing summersaults in the air before he was suddenly stopped by a tree. The wood splintered and cracked before giving way and toppling over.

Lukas dropped the few inches to the ground, his oxygen deprived legs shook and his knees buckled. Before his face could get acquainted with the ground, Arthur caught him. Lukas gasped for air as he clung to his friend, head bowed toward the ground. Why was Arthur bare foot? How did he get here?

Shaking his head, Lukas looked up and felt his eyes widen at the sight before him. Arthur was biting into his lip so hard it was bleeding, he was panting through his nose and he was shaking slightly as he held himself in check.

That wasn't what made Lukas' heart stop in his chest. Arthur was deathly pale and his eyes glowed red.

"Arthur-" Lukas began but was interrupted.

"Francis, come and take him from me," Arthur ground out through clenched teeth, eyes trained on the slowly recovering Vladimir. The blonde demon was by Arthur's side in a second. He gently took Lukas from him, the Norwegian was bleeding from multiple gashes and his clothes where torn, his pale hair hung in his face.

Slowly, as to not set Arthur off on the idea that Lukas made for a good blood donor, Francis made his way over to Mathias and set Lukas down beside him. Lukas rolled Mathias over and immediately started to check him over.

Every once in a while he glanced up to look at the demon standing between them and the two vampires.

"You look a little pale there, Arthur," Vladimir smirked in amusement as he finally hauled himself to his feet. Giving a quick glance over to Lukas before looking back.

"Heh, you look like you're about to bleed." Arthur grinned. Vladimir had sustained some injuries from the Nordics but had yet to shed a drop of his own blood. Vladimir's smirk fell into a snarl as he bared his fangs. Arthur copied him. Somewhere in the back of his mind something was screaming at him to back down, that Vladimir was superior to him, but Arthur just pushed it away.

To Hell with hierarchies.

Arthur dashed forward, Vladimir snarled and charged. The two met with a loud crunch of bone and snapping teeth. Gone were the human tendencies to throw punches and remember ones training about hand to hand combat. This was pure, untamed, animalistic carnage.

Vladimir and Arthur where at each other's throats; snarling, snapping, clawing, anything to get ahold of the other. There was no block or retreat, there was only advance.

Each blow from Vladimir made Arthur see stars as his head was snapped from side to side. It took everything he had to stay on his feet. Arthur's own blows where lighter but he found that he could land more in a shorter space of time. Over all the two were even. Blood seeped through their clothing from the deep claw marks they left on each other and flew off their claws in long ribbons from the force of their swings.

Vladimir took a swipe at Arthur's face, expecting him to take it like he had so many others, but he ducked and swiped at Vladimir's stomach. The Romanian hissed, red eyes flashing, as the blow forced him back several steps. Arthur continued to advance, raining blow after blow down on Vladimir, backing him up against a tree. The Englishman pulled his arm back and, for the first time in their fight, curled his hand into a fist.

A harsh hiss escaped him as his claws dug into his palm and pierced through his skin.

Arthur's mind raced to remember his father's notes. His fist erupted into a purple and blue flame, Arthur smirked as Vladimir's eyes widened. He heard Lukas suck in a breath and felt everyone's eyes on him, even Mathias'. Vladimir let his knees buckle, he dropped into a crouch just in time for Arthur's flaming fist to fly over his head and connect with the tree.

The tree exploded with a deafening boom into a column of fire that lit up the entire clearing in a harsh blue light, sending flaming chunks of debris flying in every direction.

Vladimir's foot connected with Arthur's chest, lifting him off the ground a few inches and flying back several feet away. Vladimir didn't wait to see him land harshly and roll a few times before he directed his attention back to Lukas. He bolted toward the exhausted Norwegian; fully intent on killing him but Francis was suddenly directly in front of him.

Reintroducing him to the French Boot of Pain.

Francis dug his heels into the ground as Vladimir took a swing at him. The demon merely leaned to the side and rolled his right shoulder back toward Lukas and Mathias, angling his upper body sideways and dodging the blow. He smashed his left fist in Vladimir's cheek, making him stumbled as he brought his right knee up into his lower stomach. Spinning with it, Francis buried his heel into the center of Vladimir's chest.

Vladimir hunched over, his hands coming up to cradle his abused chest. Francis used him like the hood of a car and rolled over his back, his tail snaking around his neck as he did so. As soon as his feet met the ground he heaved Vladimir over his head and threw him in Arthur's direction.

The Englishmen was up and running. Reaching out a clawed hand as Vladimir sailed by in an attempt to grab him. It was by happy accident that his claws managed to get imbedded in the back of the vampire's neck. A shrill scream tore through the air as his Strength rune was shredded and he crashed to the ground a few feet away from Arthur.

"You owe me two lives, Vladimir," Arthur growled as he turned to face him again. Vladimir fought to his feet, one hand going to hold the back of his neck, as he swayed. Now that his rune was gone the full effects of blood loss could sink its teeth into him. "Guess I'll just have to be satisfied with taking yours." Arthur's voice was low, dangerous, and held no mercy.

One step at a time, Arthur advanced, the wind ruffling his shaggy hair and loose black shirt, now just as torn as Vladimir's neck. Vladimir shuffled backwards on shaky legs, fangs bared and hissing a warning to stay away.

Arthur glared as he drew closer.

Vladimir tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground on his back.

"This is for Gerhart." Arthur said coldly. Clenching his hand into a fist, his hand burst into flame again, only this time it was a normal red color.

"Now, Arthur. Think rationally, I gave you strength, didn't I?" Vladimir asked in an attempt to beg for his life.

Arthur sneered.

Unable to stomach the sight of his former friend, Arthur pulled his arm back and then shoved his hand into Vladimir's rib cage and up into his chest cavity. The fire spell instantly died as soon as Arthur's hand pierced skin. Vladimir's eyes widened, both hands flying to clutch at Arthur's arm that was now inside him.

A choked sound escaped his gaping mouth as Arthur wrapped his hand around the vampire's heart.

"This is for Mint." Arthur's grip tightened as he dug his claws into the soft organ hammering away in the palm of his hand. Vladimir's eyes rolled back in pain, unable to voice such agony as his body convulsed. "And this is for my own personal satisfaction." With that, Arthur lunged forward and sunk his teeth into Vladimir's throat.

Lukas' grip on Mathias' shirt tightened, he couldn't remember ever placing his hands on his guard's chest in the first place but that small detail didn't seem to matter as he watched Arthur bleed Vladimir dry. Blood ran down the blonde's chin in thick rivets and down his pale neck to be soaked into his shirt as the majority went down his throat with each gulp.

Francis took a stand of hair between his fingers and twirled it as he watched anxiously. A warm hand gently settled over Lukas'. He looked down to see Mathias looking up at him instead of at Arthur and Vladimir. Lukas smiled reassuringly before looking back up.

Arthur could feel the vampire in him revolt and shutter as he basically committed cannibalism. With each few mouthfuls of blood he could feel Vladimir's heart slow and his grip on his arm slacken. Arthur kept his eyes closed as Vladimir's grip fell from his arm, his head fell back and his heart stopped beating.

It was a silent death, one full of pain and yet part of Arthur wished he had screamed or at least struggled.

As Arthur swallowed the last mouthful of Vladimir's blood something inside him screamed painfully. The last thing he felt was that something being ripped apart as it screamed in his head before someone grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down.

```

Arthur opened his eyes to see nothing but white as far as the eye could see. Somehow it didn't hurt his eyes to look at like he had expected it too. Blinking in confusion, Arthur looked around but only saw the oblivion of white.

 _Arthur!_ Gasping, he spun around in time to have a small, warm, body collide with his chest. Flying Mint Bunny leaned up and nuzzled into Arthur's cheek and starting purring. Arthur's sight grew blurry as tears built up in his eyes. Flinging his arms around the green bunny, Arthur held her tightly against his chest and buried his face into her side.

"Don't cry, Arthur," A large hand landed on Arthur's shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Gerhart standing before him in a white t-shirt and loose tan pants tucked into a pair of boots. His long hair glowed and pair of equally golden wings was folded against his broad back.

Sniffling and blinking back his tears, Arthur leaned into the small touch.

"I'm so sorry," Arthur said hoarsely. "I'm sorry." The tears fell down his face and he nuzzled his face back into Flying Mint Bunny's warm fur.

 _It's okay._ Flying Mint Bunny licked the tears away from Arthur's cheeks.

"We were happy to die for you. She's right, it really is alright," Gerhart gave Arthur's shoulder a squeeze. "So don't think on it for one minute when you get back, got it?"

"But-"

"Focus on living your life to the fullest and we'll call it even. Deal?" Arthur pulled his face away from Flying Mint Bunny's side to look up at Gerhart. His once hard ice blue eyes where now filled soft and gentle and an almost smile tugged at his lips. It was then that Arthur realized the tall German didn't have any regrets and that he was at peace.

Arthur nodded.

"Gut, now get-"

"Why did you request to be assigned to me?" Arthur suddenly asked. If he was truthful with himself, that question had been buzzing inside his head ever since Gerhart had appeared at his door with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder.

Gerhart let go of Arthur's shoulder, making his heart jump into his throat as he panicked that he had said something wrong but then that hand was placed on top of his head.

"Ich an Sie denke, wie mein Sohn," Gerhart smiled.

 _Good bye, Arthur. I love you!_ Flying Mint Bunny pressed her nose to his and made a smooch noise.

```

Arthur yanked himself back and abruptly jumped to his feet. Vladimir's body sagged to the cold ground, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Lapin," Francis stroked Arthur's cheek with the back of his hand. "Are you alright?" Arthur didn't know when Francis had walked up to him but he didn't dwell on it.

Gerhart's voice still rang in his head and it wasn't the first time he wished he knew German.

The coppery tang of blood made him gag and place his hand over his mouth to keep himself from vomiting.

"Blimey, that was the single most disgusting thing I have ever done." Arthur said. Francis chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead.

```

The rising sun of a new day bathed the world in a warm radiance, full of promise and hope. Arthur stood atop a fallen tree trunk with his eyes closed and his face upturned to the sky.

Finally.

Finally.

"Arthur?" Lukas asked as he came up behind his friend.

"…Sometimes it feels like I was born just so that I could suffer." Arthur whispered, then, louder, "How's Mathias?"

"He's got a hard head, he'll live and you have lost everyone…Your parents, your kid brother, your friend and bodyguard…even your familiar. I can see how you would think that,"

"That was not an invitation to sum it up!" Arthur glared over his shoulder.

"Seems to me that you have nothing left, you're in the perfect position to give the world your middle finger," Lukas stated calmly.

"Where are you taking this?"

"Don't think I haven't noticed the way you and that demon look at each other-"

"Now see here-"

"With no one left to hold you back, you're free to be with him." Lukas smirked with a knowing look in his eyes.

Arthur could only gape, green eyes wide.


	16. Chapter 16

Six years later found Francis to be a happy business man who ran a line of French bakeries, ironically situated around England and with no stores in France. He lived with Arthur in the Brit's house. From inside the house a loud crash followed by the sound of breaking glass could be heard.

"Bloody fucking Hell!"

"Ma chérie, calm down,"

"Fuck off, frog!" Another glass broke. "Gahh! I quit!"

"Ohonhonhon," Francis snickered and grabbed Arthur around the waist as he tried to stomp by. The smaller blonde's belly was round and swollen, a strange sight on a man but Francis felt his tail swish with appreciation every time he saw his husband. Of course Arthur couldn't marry a dead man publicly but luckily they knew a certain Norwegian with the power to marry them and so, it was with great pleasure that Lukas rented out such services to the two.

For about the last five years Francis and Arthur had been trying to have kids of their own. Arthur used a pill that would allow him to carry the child but it was another thing to actually get it to work. This would make it the seventh time he's been pregnant and so far all was smooth sailing. The other six times he had only made it a month before his body rejected the baby growing inside him.

Last week they went to Lukas again, as he was acting as their doctor, and found out that Arthur had, not one but two, boys he was carrying.

"I love seeing you like this," Francis purred as he swept Arthur into his arms and held him against his chest.

"What, fat and hormonal?" Arthur scoffed trying to push Francis away.

"Non," Francis shook his head and placed a hand over Arthur's stomach, "I love seeing you like this because you have a certain glow about you, I can feel the love you have for our sons every time you walk by, and I love seeing you like this because I know that the man I love is going to give me two more people that I'm going to cherish," Arthur's eyes misted over with tears throughout Francis' small speech.

His emotions easily rose to such heights that the only way to express how happy he was, was to cry.

Francis pressed a kiss to Arthur's lips and held him closer.

"I absolutely love being able to hold all three of you in my arms." Francis said as he nuzzled into Arthur's hair.

Arthur chuckled and snuggled into Francis' chest, the broken glass all but forgotten in the kitchen.

Arthur still worked for the Order, still hunted demon's down but left the fighting to someone else because Francis asked him too, but for the last couple of months he had been stuck at home.

Completely bored out of his mind, Arthur had taken to sitting out in the garden or on the couch and self-teaching himself how to do embroidery.  
He had gotten pretty good at it.

Several handkerchiefs had his initials sewn into the corner so finely they looked painted on. Francis would come home after work, change into looser fitting clothes and let his wings and tail out with a relieved sigh. Then he would dote on Arthur in every way possible.

Something the Englishmen had blushed furiously over in the beginning but now he could openly enjoy the attention. Francis fisted his hand under Arthur's chin and gently raised his head up, kissing him gently, slowly, passionately, showing him how much he loved him with that one gesture.

```

The day Alfred and Matthew were born was a sunny one. It was two minutes to midnight when Matthew was born and three minutes after 1 o'clock when Alfred joined him into the world. July 2nd belonged to Matthew while the 3rd was Alfred's.

They were born silent, neither one cried or gurgled, but that was okay because they were born sleeping.

Just like how a demon or angel was born. What mattered the most was that they were healthy and neither one had their little hearts stutter to a stop.

Alfred and Matthew were born as humans.

```

Too Arthur's mortification and Francis' amusement, Alfred had been the first to show the world that, yes he was in fact the son of a great wizard, by unknowingly casting a spell that gave him super human strength when they were in America. Glacier National Park, to be exact, thankfully no one but the four of them where around when Alfred pulled his little stunt. The small eight year old had run up to a fully grown buffalo and _picked it up_ then started swinging it around.

From then on Alfred constantly cast the exact same spell all throughout elementary school, middle school and now going on the second year of high school. Matthew, on the other hand, managed to cast an invisibility spell at the age of ten, resulting in only a handful of people ever noticing him and or remembering him.

Arthur gave up on hoping to keep them from the world of magic when they had both performed a transformation ritual, again by pure accident, and had changed their nationality.

At the time, Alfred had been obsessed with American superheroes and the American way, including their flag, their sports, their movies, even their food. Now he was one of them. Matthew had been the same way but with the country of Canada, for reasons still unknown to them all. Now he was Canadian and Arthur decided that they both needed to be trained on how to control their magic.

Neither one had believed that Arthur was a wizard and that Francis was a demon, having kept both things a secret from them because little kids have huge mouths, until they had been given proof.

Only after they had sworn to keep it a secret did Arthur show them how to control the spells that they had already been performing every minute of every hour of every day without knowing it.

Now Matthew was finally able to make a friend, a grumpy Italian with a bad mouth, and Alfred was able to embrace his friends without fearing that he'd break something.

Yeah, life was finally allowing Arthur to be happy.

```

Outside in the flourishing garden, a unicorn nosed the rose bushes and vines of ivy before setting its sights on the rows of beautiful flowers that had been planted off kilter and now leaned to the side.

The unicorn inhaled their scent before opening its mouth, with the full intent to eat them, when a green bunny suddenly leapt out of nowhere and batted its velvet nose with her small paws.

Startled, the magical white beast recoiled and fled the garden, leaving a very satisfied bunny behind.

She turned toward the house and listened to the sounds of laughter before nodding and disappearing.


End file.
